Abortion: The Poisoned Gift | The Journal of Montreal

« Be careful what you wish for ».

You have already heard this adage of American origin.

It means that what you want may not be the idea of ​​the century and that, if you get it, you risk becoming disillusioned.

You wanted a dog? It will have to be taken care of.

Want a big house? Cleaning will take longer.

Whoops

In the United States, Democrats and Republicans must manage their respective poison gifts.

Democrats wanted to use their majority in the House to investigate the Capitol storming and hold Donald Trump accountable.

They have largely succeeded.

The evidence of its disastrous role is overwhelming.

But from now on, every option is dangerous for Democrats.

Sue Trump in court?

He will become a martyr in the eyes of his supporters.

Not pursue it?

That would be to gloss over actions as serious, if not more serious, than those which led to the downfall of Nixon in 1974.

Now imagine that Trump is tried, but acquitted.

The judiciary will be accused of having agreed to be instrumentalized with a view to settling political scores… and Trump will come out stronger.

What to do ?

Probably charge him, yes, to show that no one is above the law, but the risks are enormous.

The Republicans, too, have just won a victory that might turn out to be a poisoned gift.

They did everything they might to build a solid conservative majority on the Supreme Court, blocking the nomination of Merrick Garland, proposed by Obama, on the pretext of not appointing someone during an election year, and then endorsing Trump’s nominee, Amy Coney Barrett, with only 35 days left until the presidential election.

The maneuver enabled the reversal of a woman’s right to make the decision alone whether or not to have an abortion in the name of the respect for privacy evoked in the 14th Amendment.

The religious right is jubilant, but Republican strategists now realize the problem for their party.

The midterm elections will take place on November 8.

All was well for the Republicans.

Joe Biden is very unpopular and a gallon of gas is over $5 US.

Biden is failing to rally his troops and has no paid theme to campaign on.

The Republicans are well placed to regain a majority in the House of Representatives and, possibly also, in the Senate, completely paralyzing the president.

And there, suddenly, comes this judgment which goes once morest the majority feeling.

Complication

Sixty-one percent of adults in the United States believe that abortion should be legal in almost all cases.

Electorally speaking, the most crucial demographic-geographic segment is suburban women, who support free choice in an even stronger proportion.

The Democrats now have a theme that can change the mainstream conversation, galvanize their electorate, serve as their hobbyhorse.

Enough to turn the tide? Probably not, but enough to make life difficult for Republicans.