Democrats to make abortion ruling central to 2022 midterms, Republicans insist voters more focused on economy

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Supreme Court ruling on abortion ‘monumental,’ ‘correct’ decision: Rep. Donalds

Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., reacts to the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Prominent campaign committees for both Democrats and Republicans are at odds with how the Supreme Court's ruling to overturn Roe v. Wade will impact the upcoming midterm elections amid rising inflation, crime, and high fuel costs.

The Friday ruling, which was made in the court's opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, came more than a month after a leaked draft opinion from Justice Samuel Alito suggested the court would overturn federal protections for abortion.

In a series of statements released from the committees after the ruling, it is clear that Democrats will use the decision to their advantage in the midterm elections.

SUPREME COURT OVERTURNS ROE V. WADE IN LANDMARK OPINION

In remarks following the Supreme Court's ruling, President Joe Biden stated voters must elect more Democratic politicians to enshrine abortion protections in federal law. 

"The only way we can secure a women’s right to choose in the balance it existed, is for congress to restore the protections of Roe v. Wade as federal law," Biden said. Noting that Congress doesn’t have enough votes to do that, he called on Americans to vote for lawmakers in the midterms who would codify a right to have an abortion into federal law. 

"This fall, Roe is on the ballot. Personal freedoms are on the ballot. The right to privacy, liberty, equality are all on the ballot," Biden said.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who like Biden is a Roman Catholic, also called abortion protections an issue for the midterm elections.

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"Make no mistake, again, it's all on the ballot in November. Supreme Court has ended a constitutional right," Pelosi said in a statement following the Supreme Court's decision.

Democratic campaign committees also reacted quickly, announcing initiatives to make abortion a key election issue.

"Today’s decision dramatically escalates the stakes of the 2022 elections, and we’re making sure Americans have the tools they need to channel their anger into action," said Christie Roberts, executive director for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC). "This on-the-ground organizing work will help elect Democrats who will fight to protect women’s right to make their own health care decisions and ensure the GOP’s cruel agenda to making abortion illegal and punish women is front and center for voters across the Senate battlegrounds."

Abortion rights demonstrators protest outside the US Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., US, on Friday, June 24, 2022. (Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Christie Roberts, executive director for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said the decision "escalates the stakes of the 2022 elections."

"Today’s decision dramatically escalates the stakes of the 2022 elections, and we’re making sure Americans have the tools they need to channel their anger into action. This on-the-ground organizing work will help elect Democrats who will fight to protect women’s right to make their own health care decisions and ensure the GOP’s cruel agenda to making abortion illegal and punish women is front and center for voters across the Senate battlegrounds."

Echoing Roberts, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) also suggested the stakes for the midterm elections "couldn't be higher" and considered pro-choice Democrats to be the "last line of defense" to protect legalized abortion in America.

"The stakes in this election couldn’t be higher," said Tim Persico, executive director for the DCCC. "MAGA Republicans are fixated on controlling people’s lives, forcing their backwards ideology onto everyone and throwing folks in jail who don’t agree with them. This organizing campaign will give outraged voters a way to help elect the pro-choice Democrats who are the last line of defense against Republican’s plan to ban abortion nationwide."

SUPREME COURT'S ROE V. WADE DECISION: READ THE DOBBS V. JACKSON WOMEN'S HEALTH RULING

Despite a focus from Democrats to highlight issues surrounding abortion in the midterm elections, committees that help elect Republicans insist voters will remain laser-focused on economical burdens that have been placed on them and the "radical position" Democrats have taken on abortion.

Anti-abortion demonstrators outside the US Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., US, on Friday, June 24, 2022. (Valerie Plesch/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

"Today’s Supreme Court ruling returns the issue of abortion to the states and allows voters to decide whether they agree with Democrats’ extreme support for taxpayer-funded late-term abortion," said National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) Spokeswoman Samantha Bullock. "This ruling does nothing to change the fact that voters’ top concerns are rising prices, soaring crime, and the disaster at the southern border."

National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) spokesman Chris Hartline hailed the court's decision and insisted the justices "ruled that abortion laws should be decided by the duly-elected representatives of the people, not unelected judges."

"All Democrats running in 2022 should have to answer this simple question: Should there be any legal limits on abortion? Thus far, Senate Democrats and Democrat candidates have embraced a radical position of supporting late-term abortions, up until the moment of birth, funded by taxpayers," Hartline said. "The new standard Democrat Party line is well outside the mainstream of the American public and Democrats will have to answer for their radicalism in November."

DEMOCRATS REACT SWIFTLY TO SCOTUS ROE V. WADE RULING, BUT WILL ABORTION UPEND THE MIDTERM ELECTIONS?

Anti-abortion campaigners celebrate outside the US Supreme Court in Washington, DC, on June 24, 2022. (OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images)

Following the ruling, the Democratic National Committee (DNC), along with the DCCC and the DSCC, launched a website to help voters shift their "anger into action" and "nationwide organizing campaign to elect and reelect Democratic candidates who will defend women's rights to make their own health care decisions."

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Touting the effort in a statement, DNC Executive Director Sam Cornale said, "The majority of voters agree: MAGA Republicans' agenda of criminalizing abortion – including in cases of rape and incest – is wildly out of step with the American people. We are proud that this organizing campaign will give people across the country a way to make change by electing pro-choice Democrats up and down the ballot in November."

A Fox News poll released in May found that a slim majority of registered voters favor banning abortions after 15 weeks, while an earlier poll revealed that six in 10 registered voters favored the court upholding Roe v. Wade.