What do women really want this presidential election?
What do women really want?
Presidential candidates come and go; they say what they think American voters want to hear, and the two major parties always have a strategy for winning the “women’s vote.”
The real “elephant” in the room at the first GOP presidential debate on Wednesday in Milwaukee was not, as Bret Baier suggested, Donald Trump, but the issue of abortion. In fact, FOX made it the only issue in their lead-in video to debate.
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The media and pundits say abortion is a loser for Republicans because American women demand access to abortion, period, end of story.
Women are not a monolith, nor are they all intent on killing their offspring.
Since the Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson last year, which overturned a half-century of legalized abortion at the federal level, states have taken action one way or the other to protect life in the womb or expand access to abortion.
The issue is now subject to the democratic process decided by legislators and legislation, not by a few judges. California, for example, is radically offering abortions to the ninth hour of the ninth month of pregnancy. Arkansas has banned it entirely.
“Sending it back to the states,” however, as so many try to spin it, is a legislative tactic; it’s not the end goal. Sure, the closer an issue is to the people, the more it reflects the will of the people.
But that does not mean there is no federal role for laws that limit abortion. In fact, there already are; the federal government cannot use taxpayer dollars to fund abortion. Of course, the Biden Administration ignores this law at every turn.
Our goal is to save lives — to cherish human beings who, as Scripture says, were “fearfully and wonderfully” made.
So, the candidates on the stage Wednesday who indicated they would oppose any federal limits on abortion are totally out of step with the pro-life base of the party and the ones who brung ‘em to the dance. In fact, hiding behind shifting the responsibility to the states totally. Four states and the District of Columbia have little to no limits to allow abortion up until birth. This is, as Senator Tim Scott said “immoral” and frankly, evil.
The overwhelming majority of Republicans are pro-life, and we haven’t been fighting this battle for more than 50 years to just give up on any legislation at the federal level.
The contrast with Democrats is clear on this issue. Their platform clearly says, “Democrats oppose and will fight to overturn federal and state laws that create barriers to reproductive health and rights. We will repeal the Hyde Amendment and protect and codify the right to reproductive freedom.”
One of their presidential candidates, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., stepped out of line with this radical position actually taking a sensible approach to late-term abortions saying, “I believe that the decision to abort a child should be up to the woman during the first three months of life.” When NBC reporter Ali Vitali pressed Kennedy on whether he would “sign a federal cap” limiting abortions to the first 15 weeks or the first 21 weeks of pregnancy, he once again reiterated his support for banning abortions after “three months.”
Before the day was over, Kennedy backtracked, obfuscated, and recanted his professed support for limits on late-term abortion.
Wow, if only pro-life leaders, most of whom are women, had that kind of power over GOP candidates that Big Abortion advocates have over Democrats. If we did, the GOP would not have failed to realize the landslide they were predicting last year in the midterm elections. Instead of using our messaging and suggested actions in the wake of Dobbs, they cowered in the corner not mentioning the issue while getting pummeled by the Democrats with $391 million in ads.
If the GOP presidential candidates listened to pro-life leaders, the majority of whom are women, they would be doubling down on federal limits to abortion rather than trying to nuance it like Vivek Ramaswamy and Gov. Ron DeSantis have said the decision “belongs to the states” and former Ambassador Nikki Haley’s “consensus building” exercise.
We have a consensus! Around 70% of the American people have consistently said since the 1973 decision on Roe v. Wade that there should be limits on abortion. They oppose the 55,000 late-term abortions that take place in the country each year.
For all those who wonder how conservative Christian women could have voted for Donald Trump in 2016 and may do so again in 2024, it is because he told us exactly what he believed and how he would act to restrict the horrors of late-term abortion when a baby cannot only feel pain, but most of the times can survive outside the womb. In that fateful debate with Hillary Clinton, Trump won the hearts of millions of American women by standing up to her and pointing out how extreme her position is in supporting the gruesome destruction of a baby that is clearly viable.
Democrats have no shame in their position. Republicans should be as confident in being pro-life.
Of course, the media will never ask the question of Democrats on a debate stage.
Women are not looking for a pastor or a boyfriend when they look at a potential presidential candidate. They are looking for a bodyguard. Someone who will fight for them and protect what they hold dear, and the thing they hold most dear is children.
Women also want someone who says what he (or she) means and means what he says.
So my advice to the candidates — don’t skirt around the edges on the essentials. The life of the unborn is the biggest. We’ve seen enough prevaricating politicians in our lives; women are looking for leadership.
Penny Nance is the President and CEO of Concerned Women for America, the nation’s largest public policy organization for women. She is a recognized national authority on cultural, children’s and women’s issues.
