The Grand Old Party's radical plan for America

Republicans have cynically used abortion as a wedge issue for decades. Today's GOP is much more radical and dangerous.

Some 60% of all Americans support the right to choose an abortion in some cases and want Roe v. Wade, the law of the land since 1973, to stand. The Supreme Court is poised to overturn it anyway, opening the floodgates for states to criminalize abortion.

There are currently dozens of proposed bills and laws, some more extreme than others (including the death penalty in Texas), severely restricting and/or criminalizing abortion under virtually any circumstance. For many, especially poorer women, life just got a lot riskier and harder.

It's notable that most of the states passing laws criminalizing abortion are also the states with the highest teen pregnancy rates, highest infant mortality rates, highest uninsured healthcare rates, etc. In fact, they scrape the bottom of nearly every metric. It’s as if these states are doing everything they can to ensure more children and families struggle, fall into poverty and all that goes with it. Madness.

This is a watershed moment when many Americans are waking up to just how radical and extreme today’s Republican party has become. While the old GOP cynically used abortion as a wedge issue for decades, today’s Republican party means what they say. So when its leaders talk about outlawing same-sex marriage, contraception, interracial marriage, dismantling Social Security, restricting the right to vote, etc., believe them. Their vision of America is extreme and they are rapidly acquiring the power to make it reality.

The fallout from this decision is hard to exactly predict but I expect it will be massive and long-lasting. It’s interesting that the smarter, more cautious GOP leaders are trying to downplay the overturning of Roe v. Wade, distract and deflect to the leak itself or refusing to comment altogether. They are no doubt concerned this could go sideways on them before the midterms.

Zooming out a bit, this decision could ultimately be a catalyst for extreme political chaos, even disunion. The populous and relatively more prosperous blue states will continue to pull away from the poorer, backward red states, even while having to live under a political regime that is lopsided, unrepresentative and regressive. How long can the center hold?

TEEN PREGNANCY

Mississippi 27.9

Arkansas 27.8

Louisiana 25.7

Oklahoma 25

Alabama 24.8

Kentucky 23.8

Tennessee 23.3

West Virginia 22.5

Texas 22.4

New Mexico 21.9

South Carolina 19.3

Missouri 18.8

South Dakota 18.7

INFANT MORTALITY

Mississippi 8.27

Louisiana 7.53

West Virginia 7.45

Arkansas 7.33

Alabama 7.18

South Dakota 6.86

North Carolina 6.76

Kansas 6.69

Indiana 6.55

Ohio 6.53

Michigan 6.53

South Carolina 6.46

Kentucky 6.23

Tennessee 6.2

Georgia 6.12

UNINSURED HEALTHCARE

1. Texas 18.4%

2. Oklahoma 14.3%

3. Georgia 13.4%

4. Florida 13.2%

5. Mississippi 13%

6. Wyoming 12.3%

7. Alaska 12.2%

8. Nevada 11.4%

9. Arizona 11.3%

10. North Carolina 11.3%