ABC, CNN, NBC on impact of Roe v. Wade decision in the midterms: 'A defining issue this fall'

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NBC, ABC and CNN weigh in on impact Roe v. Wade will have in the midterms

ABC, NBC and CNN panelists debated to what extent the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade might impact the midterm elections.

ABC, CNN and NBC panelists weighed in on Sunday about how the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade will affect the midterms for Democrats and Republicans in November. 

During ABC's "This Week," former Democratic National Committee Chair Donna Brazile said that it would likely be a "defining issue" ahead of the midterms. 

"It's like every other issue in American politics. For the moment, it's hot, it might cool off, but in the back of every woman's mind. Every woman's mind, probably a bunch of men, this is going to be a defining issue this fall," Brazile said. 

"Democrats had the opportunity in the wake of the draft opinion when this was getting so much attention, the pro-life Democrat won. I do think Republicans have an issue going too far, you know, this cosplay that has been going on because of Roe v. Wade, like John said. But this is somehow a winning issue for Democrats there’s just no data to support that right now," Sarah Isgur, a staff writer for the Dispatch, told the ABC panel.  

Pro-life-abortion and abortion rights demonstrators rally in front of the US Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on June 25, 2022, a day after the Supreme Court released a decision on Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization, striking down the right to abortion.  ((Photo by Yasin Ozturk/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images))

USA Today Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page said that Democrats had "enormous energy" and that there was a "big risk" for Republicans, "who are at odds with American public" about whether abortion access is a "right for Americans."

Page noted polling that found Americans who support Roe v. Wade believe the economy is a bigger issue than abortion in terms of how they're going to vote in the fall. She said that stories coming out of states that have already restricted abortion access might change this, but that "some key Democrats do worry this is less a galvanizing issue for November than they hoped."

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A CNN "Inside Politics" panel noted that Democratic lawmakers have been calling on Americans to vote in November since the decision came down. 

Host Abby Phillip noted that former President Donald Trump had expressed concern for Republicans heading into November and asked if the decision was going to benefit Democrats or Republicans in the midterms. 

NPR's White House correspondent Asma Khalid said that anyone who says they're certain about what the decision means for the midterms "is bluffing." 

"Nobody knows. I mean we've heard President Biden, we heard other Democratic lawmakers say Roe is on the ballot. Essentially the message is vote. But I will say, like, young Democratic activists, folks on the left, the progressive left, feel like they have been voting, and I will say there are a lot of questions about whether or not that’s actually a sufficient thing to be telling people who want sort of more radical activism at this moment," she said. 

WASHINGTON D.C. - JUNE 21: Outside the Supreme Court Tuesday morning ahead of possible announcement on Dobbs v. Jackson (Photo by Joshua Comins/Fox News)

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NPR's Sarah McCammon told the panel that both sides were going to "engage" voters on the issue of abortion. "I don't see this issue going away anytime soon." 

Phillip said that there isn't public support for an outright abortion ban. The Washington Post's Leigh Ann Caldwell said that Democrats were confident in their messaging with Roe. 

She noted that pro-abortion groups believe voters care about this issue and that the message needs to be, "Democrats have an answer" and that Republicans want to ban abortion completely.

"So they think they're on the right side of the issue, the question is are voters going to remember that at the polls given what's going on with the economy," she said. "For Democrats, this has never been a top voting issue, it's always been an esoteric issue." 

NBC's senior Capitol Hill correspondent Garrett Haake said on "Meet the Press" that he didn't think the issue would get much play at the federal level and that the Democratic Party has had a hard time getting voters to focus on local elections. 

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He said that governors races, like in Pennsylvania and in Texas, were going to be "ground zero." 

People protest about abortion, Friday, June 24, 2022, outside the Supreme Court in Washington.  (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

Boston Globe columnist Kimberly Atkins Stohr told the panel that it wasn't something Democrats can "flip overnight."

"This is a generation-long movement on the right that has led us here and the Democrats, it's not clear to see if they’ve even started what will have to be a generation long movement to move this backwards, not just with the Supreme Court but at the state level as you’re saying," she said, adding that it was going to take "horrific" details and stories about women and pregnancy complications before the public "understands how important this is."

Peggy Noonan of the Wall Street Journal said that Democrats would need to engage and "get in the game in a whole new way." 

"That's through persuasion, not anger, rage all that stuff. Persuasion," she said. 

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ABC's Terry Moran said Sunday that women "will die" because of the Supreme Court's decision. 

"In 11 states including Texas and Florida, state governments can seize control of the bodies of women who have been raped or who are victims of incest and compel them to carry the baby, child of their rapist to term. This is a different world for women in America," Moran said.