Is the Third Way misrepresenting support for women’s rights?

Strategists at Third Way are taking a more cautious approach. For months, they’ve been quietly drafting a plan to help Democrats better connect with voters on abortion. The think tank–whose co-chairs include seven moderate Democratic senators–has been consulting with a wide range of advisers including pro-life advocates, religious leaders and former staffers of pro-choice groups. After issuing a series of memos and a major poll on the issue this fall, Third Way will roll out a new strategy to help Democrats broaden their support without sacrificing the party’s core values.”

One prime reason for the approach they take is that the DLC has bought into the myth that the United States is a fundamentally conservative country–a recent article in their magazine Blueprint carried a subtitle reading, “Bill Clinton’s greatest achievement was advancing progressivism in a conservative nation.” Needless to say, the idea that America is conservative at its heart is one Republicans work hard to maintain. Yet it is simply false: On nearly every prominent issue, the American public supports the progressive
position. In survey after survey, the overwhelming majority of the public wants legal abortion, a higher minimum wage, strong environmental protections, strict regulation of corporations, an end to the electoral college, universal health care, a strong and unprivatized Social Security system and on and on.

“For instance, a Pew Research poll conducted June 8-12 asked: “In 1973 theRoe versus Wade decision established a woman’s constitutional right to anabortion, at least in the first three months of pregnancy. Would you like to see the Supreme Court completely overturn its Roe versus Wade decision, or not?” Sixty-three percent responded “No”; 30 percent responded “Yes.”

Similarly, a Gallup poll conducted July 7-10 asked the same question to half
of its respondents; 68 percent said, “No, not overturn,” while 29 percent responded, “Yes, overturn.” Gallup asked the other half of respondents a different version of the question: “Would you like to see the Supreme Court overturn its 1973 Roe versus Wade decision concerning abortion, or not?”Sixty-three percent responded, “No, not overturn,” and 28 percent responded, “Yes, overturn.”

A Gallup poll conducted June 24-26 found that nearly two-thirds of respondents want a new Supreme Court justice who would vote to uphold Roe. Gallup asked: “If one of the U.S. Supreme Court justices retired, would you want the new Supreme Court justice to be someone who would vote to overturn Roe v. Wade — the decision that legalized abortion — or vote to uphold it?” Sixty-five percent responded, “Vote to keep it,” while 29 percent responded, “Vote to overturn.”

In addition, a CBS News poll conducted July 13-14 asked: “More than thirty years ago, the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe versus Wade established a constitutional right for women to obtain legal abortions in this country. In general, do you think the Court’s decision (to uphold Roe) was a good thing or a bad thing?” Of the 632 adult respondents, 59 percent called the decision a “good thing,” and 32 percent called it a “bad thing.”

“It should be noted that “pro-choice” and “pro-life” are vague terms, and different respondents surely understand them differently. A May 12-16 NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll asked a more specific question: “Which of the following best represents your views about abortion — the choice on abortion should be left up to the woman and her doctor, abortion should be legal only in cases in which pregnancy results from rape or incest or when the life of the woman is at risk, or abortion should be illegal in all circumstances?” A majority, 55 percent, said the choice should be left up to a “woman and her doctor”; 29 percent said abortion should be legal only in cases of rape, incest, or a threat to the life of the mother; and 14 percent said it should always be illegal.”