The Texas Abortion Law Could Backfire on Its Supporters

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

49% : One month ago today, abortion opponents in Texas won a major victory: The Supreme Court allowed a novel and near-total ban on abortion to go into effect, making the state the first since Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973 to effectively outlaw the procedure.
42% : Because it relies on the civil system instead of criminalizing abortion, and because it survived requests for the Supreme Court to prevent it from going into effect, it offers a model to other states that want to functionally outlaw abortion right now.
42% : But it's also possible that enough of the Court's conservative justices -- or even just one -- will see the growing backlash and correctly assess that the Mississippi case is about much more than abortion -- that the public's trust, the Court's legacy, and the stability of the institution itself may all hinge on its result.
41% : They also focused on "collaborators" who they believed aided or abetted abortion, harassing everyone from clinic administrative assistants to car services that gave patients rides to landscaping companies that mowed clinics' lawns.
40% : In December, they are set to hear arguments on a Mississippi law that bans most abortions after 15 weeks, in direct violation of Roe's requirement that abortion remain generally legal before the point of fetal viability.
40% : But it has also inflamed abortion-rights advocates at a crucial juncture, and made them all the more determined to send the message that banning abortion will not be met with quiet acquiescence.
38% : Despite the narrative that abortion is a singularly polarizing matter in the United States, the reality is that a significant majority of Americans oppose overturning Roe, and fewer than a third say they want the Court to reverse the 1973 decision.
38% : When asked to keep the Texas law from going into place, they punted, allowing the state to effectively ban abortion but leaving the door open for challenges in the lower courts.
37% : And they highlight for the public just how dangerous it is to functionally outlaw abortion and empower random citizens as enforcers.
37% : But there's little doubt that the anti-abortion movement would quickly organize attempts to outlaw abortion nationwide.

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