Staff Reports
Former President Donald Trump’s overturn of Roe v. Wade may come back to haunt him in a potential 2024 matchup against President Joe Biden. Trump’s three appointed Supreme Court justices played a key role in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case, which effectively overturned Roe v. Wade. Although anti-abortion rights groups and most Republicans celebrated this decision, it has also become a rallying cry for Democrats, who blame Trump for the reversal.
Trump’s biggest accomplishment could also fuel his 2024 defeat https://t.co/AYslqIVcU1
— Julia Johnson (@juliaajohnson_) November 17, 2023
Republican strategist Doug Heye compared the Dobbs decision to a dog catching a car and then not knowing what to do next. GOP strategist Chip Felkel went further, likening abortion in today’s political climate to a dog catching a car and getting run over by it. Felkel explained that many on the right were not in favor of the Dobbs decision because they anticipated extreme positions from Republican-dominated legislatures.
The prominence of abortion rights as a political issue was already seen in the 2023 off-year elections, where Democrats performed well. Abortion was a key factor in many Democratic wins, including the approval of the right to abortion in Ohio. Republican strategist Scott Jennings attributed the downfall of GOP gubernatorial candidate Daniel Cameron in Kentucky to a restrictive abortion trigger law without exceptions for rape or incest.
Despite Trump’s efforts to remain vague on abortion, Democrats plan to use his ties to Roe’s overturn against him in the general election. Trump will be portrayed as the author of and finisher of the end of Roe v. Wade. This has proven to be a significant motivator for Democratic and independent voters. However, political experts suggest that abortion may not play as big of a role in the presidential election as it did in state elections. Other issues will also come into play, and abortion will be just one of them.
While abortion has been highly mobilizing for Democrats, it has also created divisions within the Republican Party. Republican strategist John Feehery believes that Biden may focus more on Trump’s threat to democracy to appeal to independent voters. Currently, both Biden and Trump are neck and neck in the polls, but the 2024 election is still a long way off.
