Republican strategists are exploring a shift away from “pro-life” messaging on abortion after consistent Election Day losses for the GOP when reproductive rights were on the ballot.

At a closed-door meeting of Senate Republicans this week, the head of a super PAC closely aligned with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., presented poll results that suggested voters are reacting differently to commonly used terms like “pro-life” and “pro-choice” in the wake of last year’s Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, said several senators who were in the room.

The polling, which NBC News has not independently reviewed, was made available to senators Wednesday by former McConnell aide Steven Law and showed that “pro-life” no longer resonated with voters.

“What intrigued me the most about the results was that ‘pro-choice’ and ‘pro-life’ means something different now, that people see being pro-life as being against all abortions … at all levels,” Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., said in an interview Thursday.

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said the polling made it clear to him that more specificity is needed in talking about abortion.

“Many voters think [‘pro-life’] means you’re for no exceptions in favor of abortion ever, ever, and ‘pro-choice’ now can mean any number of things. So the conversation was mostly oriented around how voters think of those labels, that they’ve shifted. So if you’re going to talk about the issue, you need to be specific,” Hawley said Thursday.

  • @FabioTheNewOrder
    link
    11 year ago

    As much as I’d love to agree with you I unfortunately do not. Disability can absolutely be a tool to teach ableist people how does it feel to be in the shoes of people on the other side of the fence. I’ve seen too many people realizing what meant living a disabled life following an illness or an accident to refuse the simple truth that ableists and people unable to empathize with lives lived with disabilities or illnesses can be thought the real impact of disability by disability itself.

    I’m absolutely not punching down at disabled people, in the contrary I’d love for those who punch you down to feel what is like to live your life so that maybe they could understand why disabled people need laws and regulations which may help them in their day-to-day life, that’s all