Since June 2022, when the Roe v.Wade precedent was overturned, Republicans have been utterly shocked that taking away a woman’s right that has been enjoyed for 50 years caused such a backlash. Republicans could not even get anti-abortion initiatives passed in the reddest of red states. Every single attempt has been blocked by the public. Every ballot measure to protect reproductive freedom has passed, even in states like Kentucky, Kansas, and Ohio; and even in counties where Biden lost by 20 points. No GOP official, no matter how locally popular, has been successful in convincing constituents to give up their rights. In Virginia, Gov. Glenn Youngkin based his entire future on a 15-week “reasonable” ban, and not only lost the measure, but lost control of the legislature as well.
So, as they always do, Republicans have resorted to deception. In states like Nebraska and Arizona, Republicans have strategized to propose ballot measures of their own that appear to be pro-choice but will actually enshrine the right to take reproductive freedom away.
In Arizona, where the populace is beyond outraged their right-wing Supreme Court allowed a total ban to go into effect based on a Civil War era statute, a Republican strategy was leaked to trick women voters into supporting a confusing, opposing law that sounds like it is pro-choice.
The strategy document includes a slide titled: “PHASE 2: SEND VOTERS TWO OTHER OPTIONS THAT CONFLICT WITH AAA INITIATIVE,” referring to the Arizona for Abortion Access ballot measure, which aims to enshrine abortion rights into the state’s constitution through fetal viability and vastly expand the scope for exceptions.
The document outlines a plan to give the voters alternatives to the Arizona for Abortion Access ballot measure, presenting options for other constitutional amendments like the “15-week Reproductive Care and Abortion Act and Heartbeat Protection Act.”
And the document also discusses presenting voters with an option for a limit on abortions after 15 weeks that would actually be a stricter ban.
“Could scale back 15-week law to 14-week law,” the presentation reads. “In reality, a 14-week law disguised as a 15-week law because it would only allow abortion until the beginning of the 15th week,” it goes on.
This way, Arizona will get a 14-week ban that they would never be able to pass as a direct measure. But by disguising it as a way of overturning the more egregious 1864 total ban, the anti-abortion forces get what they want! Even worse, these two other fake initiatives may very well pull votes from the real initiative presented by pro-choice groups, Arizonans for Abortion Access, and cause none of the measures to be passed. That means the total ban would remain.
At no time do these Republican legislators stop to think that if they have to pretend to be pro-choice to get something passed by their constituents, they should re-consider their position. The names of these fake initiatives will sound very pro-choice and very feminist but make no mistake on what they really are.
This is also happening in other states. Nebraska has a pro-choice group, Protect Our Rights, that is trying to get a ballot measure enshrining a woman’s right to control her own body. Anti-abortion groups do not want a repeat of what happened in Kansas, so they are making their own fake initiative called the “Protect Women and Children Constitutional Amendment” that will “protect” abortion rights, but only up to the first trimester—which is ALREADY the law in Nebraska. In reality, what this does is enshrine that rule into the Constitution so that no one can make a law allowing an abortion after 12 weeks, period. Only Protect Our Rights wants to overturn that ban.
Jasmine Smith, of the sponsors of the Protect Our Rights campaign, said Tuesday that the new effort was launched by those who want to outlaw abortion “in all circumstances.”
“This new effort would enshrine Nebraska’s current harmful ban in our state constitution and leave the door open for far more restrictive bans,” Smith said.
Republicans already lost the abortion battle, so they are resorting to tricking women to approve ballot initiatives and state constitution amendments that sound like they are protecting reproductive freedom, but in reality, are consecrating the very bans they want into state law.
We cannot allow that to happen. We won’t be fooled, but only if we spread the word.