Democrats' Abortion Push May Backfire

We see today another announcement of how left-wing, Democrat-supporting political operations are going to pour $100 million into pushing “abortion rights” in this year’s election.

As I’ve been saying, it’s quite a sad commentary on a political party when the message and strategy that they put the most confidence in is to kill more babies.

But as someone who has been working to fight abortion full time in the national political arena for over 30 years, I have my doubts about how well this desperate Democratic strategy will work.

First of all, most voters simply do not have “abortion rights” at the top of their priority list. Sure, the reversal of Roe has angered the abortion-loving Democrats, and anger is a strong motivator in elections. That’s why we see more “abortion rights” voters naming abortion as an important issue than anti-abortion voters this year (see, for instance, the recent Priests for Life/McLaughlin poll).

But does it do the trick, namely, provide a sufficient distraction for voters from the failed and destructive policies of the Democrats?

I don’t think so.

First of all, they can, in fact, get an abortion. Abortion has not gone away. There is no national ban, and in most places, there is no state ban either.

Another reason, though, that the abortion push won’t necessarily work is that “abortion rights” is not, to borrow a phrase from Dan Bongino, a “finger-prick” issue.

“Finger-prick” issues bother the voters over and over again, day after day, week after week: the prices each time they get gas or buy groceries, the filthy conditions and unrest in Democrat-run cities, the migrants camping out in the neighborhood park at the gracious invitation of Joe Biden and company.

The recurring pain gets the voters’ attention, and after a while, many of them will say it’s time to make a change.

But “abortion rights” just don’t have that every-day, attention-grabbing, finger-pricking characteristic.

If anything about the abortion issue comes close to that dynamic, it’s actually something that favors the anti-abortion side.

In my work, I serve as the Pastoral Director of two worldwide ministries that serve Moms and Dads who have lost children to abortion: Rachel’s Vineyard and the Silent No More Awareness Campaign. These efforts help people who are wounded, psychologically, spiritually, and physically by abortion, to find the healing they seek and deserve.

And one of the things we learn from them is that they never forget their abortion. The “choice” (more accurately, the act of desperation) they thought would solve a problem has instead brought a whole host of new problems, among which are intrusive thoughts about the aborted child, nightmares, and triggered emotional reactions when they see a baby carriage, or hear the sound of a vacuum that reminds them of the abortion suction machine, or hear something about abortion in the news.

These reactions are real, frequent and oppressive.

Indeed, so many who have had abortions experience these things so regularly that we might call them “finger-prick” issues.

When these people hear politicians and political action committees howling for more “abortion rights,” they feel a deep pain and resentment, and are acutely aware of how disconnected and clueless these activists are to the real pain, grief and devastation experienced by those who have bought the product that the activists so eagerly market.

And they are angry, furthermore, that the marketers never tell the truth.

How much of the $100 million to be spent pushing “abortion rights” will produce videos that actually show an abortion. If someone is convinced abortion is so good, why hide what you are pushing?

How much of the “women’s rights” rhetoric, moreover, will warn about a single negative effect of abortion, or give voice to a single woman who has experienced the pain and grief abortion bring?

The abortion-loving Democrats might want to think twice about bringing abortion front and center. It is a two-edged sword. And every day, sadly, the numbers swell of voters who know all too well that this so-called “right” is a source of daily pain, deep regret and heart-rending despair.