American Thinker du jour - Abortion Edition

[Jolly]

Not Voting for Trump Won’t Stop Abortion
By J. Robert Smith

Let’s trot out this cliché one more time: “The 2024 presidential election is the most consequential in our nation’s history.” Well, maybe, but it’s certainly the most consequential since 1860. That election blew apart the republic. Whether or not the 2024 election detonates the good ol’ U.S. of A. is TBD.

In 1860, Abe Lincoln, the Republican nominee, campaigned against the expansion of slavery. That’s right. He opposed slavery’s expansion, not its abolition. He argued that the “peculiar institution” was constitutionally protected in the states where it existed. He was right. Lincoln was trying to get elected and hold the nation together. He failed in the latter.

As it was, the Democrats, being Democrats, lied. They charged that Lincoln would abolish slavery upon assuming office. Isn’t it wondrous how history approximates? Now, Kamala Harris charges ad nauseum that Donald Trump will enact a national abortion ban should he capture the White House. He will not. Trump’s position is definitive: the abortion question must be settled by the people in the states. In fact, where abortion referenda have appeared on state ballots, pro-abortion forces have fared better than pro-life factions. That’s complicating Harris’ narrative that abortion “rights” can only be protected nationally.

The lie about Lincoln wanting slavery abolished had some bite. To borrow from Mark Twain, in 1860, the Democrats’ lie traveled across the Union before the truth had a chance to put its boots on. Had the Party of Jackson not splintered over how to handle the slavery question -- had they united behind Stephen Douglas -- Lincoln would have lost. He certainly would have been crushed in the popular vote.

Democrats aren’t split on abortion like their forerunners were on handling slavery. Most favor blank check abortion that’s guaranteed by Washington. Harris’ problem isn’t the issue. Her problem is Trump. He’s making it difficult for Harris to credibly charge that he’s out to impose a pro-life regime on women. Her bigger problem, unrelated to abortion, is that like Stephen Douglas, she’s burdened by a Democrat president’s failures. While Douglas wasn’t James Buchanan’s vice president, as his party’s standard-bearer, he was saddled with Buchanan’s baggage.

Recently, Trump voiced concerns about Florida law limiting abortions to six weeks as too short a period. Claimed the Los Angeles Times back in 2021, most voters are “OK with a 15-week limit,” which is likely what Trump is in step with. He has come out against a pro-abortion amendment to Florida’s constitution that would permit abortion up to the “point of viability, which is generally estimated to be around 24 weeks of pregnancy.” Corporate media is making a fuss. They mean to embroil Trump in an abortion-related controversy to help Harris’ campaign.

By endorsing the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, Trump has carved out room for himself to address issues that resonate as much with abortion-backing women as they do with most working class and middle-income wage earners. Top-of-mind, the cost of groceries, gas, and utilities, not to mention rents and mortgages.

For the rest:

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2024/09/not_voting_for_trump_won_t_stop_abortion.html