Delegates at the Republican convention in Cleveland have approved the strongest anti-abortion platform in the party鈥檚 history. But groups that oppose abortion 鈥 and that lobbied for the strong language 鈥 are far from unified.
In fact, in the wake of last month鈥檚 Supreme Court decision reaffirming a woman鈥檚 right to abortion, leaders of a movement known for speaking largely with one voice are showing some surprising disagreement.
For the past several years, anti-abortion groups have pushed an agenda aimed at imposing much stricter regulation on abortion facilities. The groups said it was to promote the health and safety of women; abortion-rights supporters said it was an effort to .
At least for now, the Supreme Court is siding with abortion-rights backers. Neither of the portions of Texas鈥 omnibus abortion law that were up for review 鈥渙ffers medical benefits sufficient to justify the burdens upon access that each imposes,鈥 wrote Justice Stephen Breyer in the .
The provisions that were struck down required abortion clinics in the state to meet the much higher safety standards for facilities that do much more advanced surgical procedures and required doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of the clinic.
In hindsight, 鈥渕aybe it was a mistake for us to champion safeguards for women,鈥 said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the , whose goal is to elect more anti-abortion candidates to public office. 鈥淢aybe we shouldn鈥檛 have done that.鈥
At a media briefing, Dannenfelser said her group will instead rally around legislation that has passed in more than a dozen states to of pregnancy. Similar legislation but not the Senate.
The 20-week ban is 鈥渙ur top priority,鈥 she said.
But Clarke Forsythe, acting president and senior counsel for Americans United for Life, said his group plans no fundamental change in strategy.
鈥淚t is more important than ever to focus on the risks to women and negative consequences,鈥 he said in an interview. 鈥淭he justices can鈥檛 sweep away the public health vacuum that they created with a few pen strokes.鈥
Forsythe said that while the court鈥檚 ruling has 鈥減ut some roadblocks in the way, and we will have to take those into consideration,鈥 there are still plenty of opportunities to regulate abortion providers that could pass constitutional muster, particularly if they are more narrowly targeted than the Texas law was.
The nation鈥檚 oldest anti-abortion group, the National Right to Life Committee, has never embraced the push for health and safety regulations aimed at women.
鈥淥ur focus has always been on the humanity of the unborn,鈥 said its president, Carol Tobias, rather than potential risks to women seeking abortions.
Her group has instead been pushing state and federal bills to ban abortions after 20 weeks and ban 鈥溾 abortions, which are the most common procedure performed after the first trimester of pregnancy.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think the Texas decision is necessarily going to impact those types of legislation, and I know it鈥檚 not going to affect us,鈥 she said.
But there is one thing they all seem to agree on: The future makeup of the Supreme Court, and with it the future of abortion rights, hangs in the balance with the upcoming election.
Because of the vacancy left by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia last winter, 鈥渋t is so obvious, so simple to make the case鈥 about the importance of who controls the White House and Senate when it comes to Supreme Court appointments, said Dannenfelser.
鈥淲e say the court鈥檚 always important,鈥 said Tobias. 鈥淏ut this time we have solid proof.鈥
The groups also agree on something else 鈥 that despite the victory at the Supreme Court, abortion-rights forces are not winning the fight.
鈥淭he pro-life cause has never been stronger,鈥 said Dannenfelser. 鈥淎nd our opponents鈥 position has never been weaker.鈥
Immediately after the court鈥檚 ruling, said Tobias, 鈥淧lanned Parenthood came out and said they were going to pass pro-abortion legislation and repeal pro-life legislation.鈥
That is true. 鈥淭oday鈥檚 victory means we can fight state by state, legislature by legislature, law by law, and restore women鈥檚 access to reproductive health care,鈥 said Planned Parenthood Action Fund Executive Vice President Dawn Laguens in a statement.
But in fact, said Tobias, 鈥渢hey haven鈥檛 been able to do that in 40 years. The only way they make advances is through the courts. They don鈥檛 have the people鈥 on their side.
In an interview, Laguens agreed that her side has more work to do. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got to change hearts and minds,鈥 she said. But Laguens insists it is abortion opponents who are 鈥渙ut of sync with America and out of sync with the new generation.鈥
With a more 鈥渟ocial justice minded鈥 generation of millennials now coming of age, she said, it is abortion foes on the defensive. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e in a last gasp moment,鈥 she said. 鈥淭hey feel it slipping away.鈥