Abortion Court Ruling Propels Issue Back Into Political Agenda

Apr. 20, 2007 — -- The political reaction to Wednesday's Supreme Court decision on a specific type of late-term abortion was swift and predictable, with '08 Democratic presidential candidates lining up against the decision and GOP candidates supporting it.

The abortion issue has featured prominently in presidential election campaigns since 1980, when GOP candidate Ronald Reagan mobilized it with his pledge to appoint anti-abortion justices to the bench.

But will abortion politics make a difference in 2008?

"This decision has cast a spotlight on the abortion issue that wasn't there the day before," said David Masci of the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.

"The question really is whether this spotlight will still be there when the candidates are campaigning in the primaries and all the way through the general election," he said.

Masci points out that abortion is traditionally not one of the top issues in national elections.

However, abortion groups on both sides of the issue agree that the Supreme Court decision has emboldened opponents of abortion rights to push for greater restrictions, and that could raise the profile of the issue.

Hours after the decision, an Alabama state legislator introduced a bill that would ban the majority of abortions.

States such as South Carolina, Missouri, Texas, Georgia, North Dakota have also considered anti-abortion rights legislation.

"It is just a matter of time before the infamous Roe v. Wade decision of 1973 will also be struck down by the Court," said Roberta Combs, president of the Christian Coalition of America in a statement.

Abortion rights advocates say this week's Supreme Court decision highlights the stakes in the 2008 presidential election.

"Elections matter," said Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America of Washington, D.C., said.

"An anti-choice Congress and an anti-choice president pushed this ban all the way to the Supreme Court," said Keenan.

The fate of the landmark 1973 Supreme Court Roe v. Wade decision may rest with whoever the next president appoints to the bench.