Republicans who control the Supreme Court appear poised to strike down Roe v. Wade, the 1973 abortion rights decision, on grounds the legality of abortion should be left to states.
But along comes Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell saying Congress could arrive state laws allowing abortion.
McConnell claimed “the point” of Alito’s leaked draft opinion is “that it should be resolved one way or another in the legislative process. So yeah, it’s possible,” there could be a national ban on abortion (see story here).
So which is it? Federal or state?
Depends. They’re against a federal abortion right, and want to leave abortion rights up to states; but they’re for a federal abortion ban that would override permissive state rules. Consistency isn’t one of their goals. This is about getting their way by any available means.
We’ve seen this before. Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC) infamously flipflopped on impeachment (watch video here), and McConnell flipflopped on confirming Supreme Court nominees in an election year. (See another example here.) They’re shameless.
Republicans will do whatever benefits their side the most. They argue one thing today, the opposite tomorrow. Don’t expect to find any consistency or principle in it anywhere. The only rule they adhere to is, “Heads we win, tails you lose.”