Democrats, Not Republicans, More Radical on Abortion

There’s a popular talking point in progressive circles, echoed repeatedly by top-ranking Democrats since the leaked Roe opinion, that the Republican Party has somehow become more “extreme” on abortion in recent years. “The party of Lincoln and Eisenhower has now completely devolved into the party of Trump,” Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer wrote in a joint statement on the heels of the leak. “Every Republican Senator who supported Senator McConnell and voted for Trump Justices pretending that this day would never come will now have to explain themselves to the American people.” Two days later, President Biden reiterated the sentiment, suggesting that an overturning of Roe could be followed by state laws “saying that children who are LGBTQ can’t be in classrooms with other children” and calling the “MAGA crowd” the “most extreme political organization that’s existed in American history” (he then helpfully clarified he was referring to “recent” history).

But what, specifically, about the GOP’s line on abortion has become more extreme? Pelosi, Schumer, and Biden didn’t care to say. In fact, Republicans have been remarkably consistent on the issue for just shy of a half century. Throughout all of the various iterations of Republican politics since the passage of Roe, the party’s stated commitment to life has remained steady. Were Democrats not paying attention? Or did they just not think the millions of pro-lifers were serious when they said that overturning Roe, and eventually ending the moral abomination of abortion nationwide, was the goal of their movement? Shockingly, when pro-lifers said they were pro-life, they actually meant it. It’s not their fault that their partisan opponents didn’t take them at their word.

About the Author

Nate Hochman

Nate Hochman was a staff writer at National Review.

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There’s a popular talking point in progressive circles, echoed repeatedly by top-ranking Democrats since the leaked Roe opinion, that the Republican Party has somehow become more “extreme” on abortion in recent years. “The party of Lincoln and Eisenhower has now completely devolved into the party of Trump,” Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer wrote in a joint statement on the heels of the leak. “Every Republican Senator who supported Senator McConnell and voted for Trump Justices pretending that this day would never come will now have to explain themselves to the American people.” Two days later, President Biden reiterated the sentiment, suggesting that an overturning of Roe could be followed by state laws “saying that children who are LGBTQ can’t be in classrooms with other children” and calling the “MAGA crowd” the “most extreme political organization that’s existed in American history” (he then helpfully clarified he was referring to “recent” history).

But what, specifically, about the GOP’s line on abortion has become more extreme? Pelosi, Schumer, and Biden didn’t care to say. In fact, Republicans have been remarkably consistent on the issue for just shy of a half century. Throughout all of the various iterations of Republican politics since the passage of Roe, the party’s stated commitment to life has remained steady. Were Democrats not paying attention? Or did they just not think the millions of pro-lifers were serious when they said that overturning Roe, and eventually ending the moral abomination of abortion nationwide, was the goal of their movement? Shockingly, when pro-lifers said they were pro-life, they actually meant it. It’s not their fault that their partisan opponents didn’t take them at their word.