Congressional Republicans apparently haven't caught up to where their party—and their judiciary—is on abortion. All those state Republicans and all the judges that Republican presidents and Mitch McConnell have got seated are ready to ban abortion. For some reason, House Republicans still think it's just an issue to use in their next election campaign, to use in all their campaigns forever, never truly decided. The horrible dark joke is on them.
Here's the lede of the latest from Politico: "Republicans wanted to weaponize abortion against vulnerable Democrats in 2020, but a wave of strict bans across the country has upended their strategy, leaving them scattered and mostly mute." In other words, they've discovered that most of the country does not want abortion to be banned, and that it's an issue that very much motivates many voters. It also motivates many Democratic challengers, particularly women. They just saw their party swept out of power in the House on a wave of angry women, and it might just be sinking in that that was just the beginning.
"Dozens of Republican offices contacted by POLITICO did not respond to questions on the abortion law, including all the House lawmakers in the Alabama delegation." No shit. But there are enough of them who are anonymously on board with the horrible new laws to turn the tables on using abortion against Democrats. The ultraconservative Republican Study Group (for those members less willing to be public nuisances than the Freedom Caucus) put out talking points for Republicans. "Committing a second violent act with abortion to a woman who has already been victimized by an act of rape or incest could physically or psychologically wound her further," they state. "Every single child should be afforded the opportunity to live, regardless of how they were conceived."
Sen. Jeff Merkley, the Oregon Democrat, had a spot-on response. "In a sea of offensive attacks on women, this is really something. Justifying the Alabama legislature's draconian, misogynist abortion ban by pretending you're doing it to protect rape victims is disgusting." It's disgusting, and even some Republicans know that. Which is why you're not hearing most of those who like to pretend they're mainstream actually defending it.