After a leak of a draft majority opinion of the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade was released on May 2, a new reality has emerged in American politics.
Social conservative factions of the American Right have been galvanized like no other after these leaks revealed the Supreme Court’s intentions to overturn Roe v Wade.
Obviously, there are valid questions about the court’s integrity in light of this leak. Nevertheless, there are a new set of opportunities for Republicans to now exploit at the state level that will involve restricting abortion.
With Roe v Wade likely going to be overturned when it’s all said and done, abortion policy will just be kicked back to the states to handle, effectively turning into a state government issue. This is the way that abortion should be, and in fact, had been treated prior to Roe v Wade.
A post-Roe v Wade political environment is an interesting prospect. Kentucky Congressman Thomas Massie raised a thought-provoking tweet on May 3, 2022 concerning this:
If Roe v Wade is repealed, and abortion law is left up to the states, what will big spending gun grabbing RINOs campaign on in federal elections?
If Roe v Wade is repealed, and abortion law is left up to the states, what will big spending gun grabbing RINOs campaign on in federal elections?
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) May 3, 2022
Indeed, Republican politicians at the federal level have cynically used the pro-life issue to gaslight voters to get their support at the polls and rake in donations, to later do nothing meaningful about the issue once in office. Similar dynamics are at play with issues going from spending to gun rights.
We ultimately must remember that politicians will say anything to get elected. But once in office, they behave differently.
All things being equal, politicians gravitate towards establishment agendas once they’re safely in power.
That’s why it’s so important for the grassroots to put pressure on their elected officials and hold them accountable for their legislative behavior. One cannot expect politicians to carry out a pro-freedom agenda on their own.
