Democrats' Abortion Mistake

Rape and incest exceptions don't work—it's time to let voters know it

Since the Supreme Court stripped abortion rights away from American women, poll after poll shows the same thing: Voters aren’t happy. They didn’t want Roe to be overturned, they don’t approve of state abortion bans, and even when they disagree with abortion personally, Americans don’t like politicians interfering in medical decisions. 

Republicans are afraid of what these numbers mean for the midterms. That’s why they’ve been downplaying their anti-abortion extremism, and deflecting responsibility for the barrage of post-Roe horror stories that have included everything from child rape victims and cancer patients being denied abortions, to stories of burst ectopic pregnancies and women forced to carry dead and dying fetuses. 

And so Democrats are right to hammer their opponents on abortion, both strategically and morally. But given how big of a bet they’ve made on the issue—Democrats spent over $73 million on TV ads about abortion in September alone—it’s frustrating to watch them ignore what could be their most powerful advantage: Rape and incest exceptions. Namely, the fact that they don’t really work.

A poll last week showed that 86% of voters, including 76% of Republicans, believe abortions should be legal in cases of rape and incest. Americans, understandably, don’t like the idea of sexual assault victims being forced to carry pregnancies. But how many voters know that exceptions to abortion bans are exemptions in name only? And why aren’t Democrats pointing out that having a rape and incest exception in abortion legislation does not mean that rape and incest victims will be able to obtain abortions? 

In Mississippi, for example, doctors are too afraid of the vague law and harsh legal consequences to provide victims with abortion at all. Mississippi Today launched an investigation and couldn’t find one doctor in the whole state willing to give a rape victim an abortion. 

States with rape exceptions also often require an impossible number of hurdles for victims seeking care: Reporting their attack to law enforcement, for example, even though most never will. Some states also put time limits on when victims can have an abortion—a real problem for those who need to travel, raise money, or even come to terms with what has happened to them. 

This is all by design; Republicans deliberately write in exceptions that will be near-impossible to use. So why in the world aren’t Democrats shouting as much from the rooftops? Instead, they’re giving Republicans a tremendous gift: The ability to point to exceptions that no one can actually use as proof that they’re ‘softening’ on abortion.

Think about it: We’ve seen plenty of Democratic ads that highlight Republicans’ extremism, blasting opponents who don’t believe in rape and incest exceptions. It may seem like a good strategy given the unpopularity of total bans, but all this does is give Republicans the opportunity to ‘come around’ on exceptions—making the criticism moot, and lending credence to the idea that exceptions actually work.

What if Democrats made ads about the rape victims in Mississippi who can’t get abortions despite it being legal? Or interviewed an incest victim who didn’t get to the police in the short amount of time allotted by law? Or even just talked at all about exceptions as a political ploy that don’t actually help victims get care?

After all, they already have the proof that exceptions don’t work: The health and life exceptions didn’t help the woman who developed sepsis in Texas, for example, or the Ohio cancer patients who had to travel out-of-state for care.

If the exceptions meant to save people’s lives aren’t usable, what makes anyone think those for rape and incest would be?

With the midterms around the corner and abortion already a cornerstone of Democrats’ strategy, it’s time to go all-in on the truth. Americans don’t want these abortion bans, and Republican voters don’t want to see sexual assault victims forced to carry pregnancies. Most importantly: Those who are on the fence this November may see abortion exceptions as an out—a way for them to feel better about casting a vote for a Republican. We need to let them know that it’s not. That no matter what the law says, the reality is different.

Unfortunately, we have months of horror stories to prove it.