I have come to realize that Republicans treat abortion as a sleight of hand magician's parlor trick

[Snake Plissken]

Watch me pretend to care about abortion so you don't notice that I'm a typical lowlife greedy Republican who couldn't care less about ethics or morality, unless it's someone else's ethics or morality.

It's hard to believe they've been allowed to get away with it for this long.

[Wounded Bear]

1. No offense, but that has been obvious for about 30 years...

they run on it over and over, and never do anything about it when they are in office.

[Arkansas Granny]

10. They know they would risk losing all those one issue voters they depend on.

Living in a red state, I am still surprised by the number of people who base their vote on that one issue.

[bearsfootball516]

2. I don't think they actually want to repeal Roe v Wade

It's far and away their base's biggest issue, it has been for decades. If they were to repeal it, they would lose their biggest campaigning point. You'd see a massive amount of conservatives just staying home on election days, because the motivation to vote would be gone.

Like Wounded Bear said, they've run on this for a long time and never do anything about it. That's for a reason...because they can't politically afford to lose it as a campaign issue.

[LibDemAlways]

3. My husband's staunchly Catholic elderly aunt

now deceased was a single issue anti-abortion voter. She was so obsessed with the issue that on seeing my infant daughter for the first time she asked whether or not my ob gyn performed abortions. She reflexively voted R despite all evidence that she was being played, and her final vote went to Trump, that paragon of pro life virtue.

Am thinking though that if these right wing nutcases on SCOTUS actually do overturn Roe, there will be hell to pay for the R party and it will come back to bite them in the ass bigtime. They have to be secretly worried that they've pushed their game too far.

[Hortensis]

4. 34% of Republicans are pro-abortion.

65% are against. But those 65% control red legislatures across the nation and have been stuffing courts and school boards.

I do believe you're entirely right that the conviction of many anti-abortionists is based as much or more on jersey color than when life starts. Of course, MOST DON'T KNOW/WON'T ADMIT THAT ABOUT THEMSELVES and will vote as dependably on this issue as those who would leap in front of a car to save an unborn baby.

Right up until their leaders tell people like them vote to deny life to extreme preemies needing months of life support while they continue to develop, which undoubtedly is one of many factors in why they've been urged to oppose taxpayer-funded healthcare systems.

[Ilsa]

8. Please, respectfully, use "pro-choice" vs "pro-abortion." nt

[Rorey]

13. Thank you. NT

[Autumn]

5. I realized a long time back that they aren't against abortion, Republicans have

abortions. They simply use it as an issue.

[RandiFan1290]

6. Planned Parenthood is still being funded.

Drives them crazy when you point that out.

[ooky]

7. Speaking of things they've been allowed to get away with for so long, that reminds me

its just about time for the gun placards to start showing up in our mailboxes again.

[brewens]

9. It definitely used to be that they played the religious right. I remember Gary Bauer on TV

with Bob Novak one time right after Gingrich and his bunch took the House. Bauer was big on the talk shows there when Clinton was president. One of the religious right guys you'd see a lot.

He was urging that republicans push their agenda and Bob said something like, let us get some tax cuts and a republican in the White House, then maybe we'll get around to looking at abortion for you. Like, thanks for the votes suckers! We never really care about your shit, you should know that!

I'm afraid now they will push hard enough and have the pieces in place. People will see that though, and it might backfire on them.

[Polybius]

11. The vast majority of those who claim to be "pro-life" don't care and use it as a wedge issue

There are only a few exceptions though, those who flat-out want an abortion ban period. Probably Mike Pence, and certainly Alan Keyes and they late Jesse Helms.

[hurple]

12. It took you this long?

I mean the people on the ground are rabid for it, whipped up into a frothing mass by the people in power.

But, they're doing exactly that for the purpose of leading them around like a pack of wild dogs. If they ever did overturn Roe v Wade... they would have no more red meat to throw to the wolves to make them do what they want.

On the other hand, it would give Dems an issue to use to whip their masses into a frothing mass (kinda like how the election of tRump has done that)... And they can't have that. (They underestimated the frothing, visceral mass hatred for trump, and maybe, like Clinton, they didn't think it would be *this* bad)

[yardwork]

14. I've noticed that too.