The Corner

THE ATLANTIC

Jeffrey Rosen has the cover story in its June issue (not online). It’s about what would happen after Roe fell, and it concludes both that first-trimester abortion would be legal in most places and that Democrats would prosper. He does a good job of spinning out this scenario, but I think that in the end his case rests heavily on two questionable assumptions: first, that the polls in which most people say that they think early abortions should be generally permitted should be taken at face value (and conflicting polls ignored); and second, that pro-choicers would follow a smarter and more flexible strategy than pro-lifers.

Actually, Rosen takes those polls at greater than face value. He assumes that most people are so strongly in favor of first-trimester abortion that they would back a law forcing all states to protect it–indeed, that they would punish Republicans for resisting such a law. He doesn’t offer any evidence for this widespread, intense support for early abortion, and I think this part of his scenario is particularly farfetched. More here, as you’d expect.

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