Michelle Fischbach vows to counter Democrats as historic number of anti-abortion women elected to House

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When congresswoman-elect Michelle Fischbach, R-Minn., is sworn in next month, she will be one of a historic number of anti-abortion women elected to the House.

"I think it's a wonderful bonus for the pro-life message in Congress," Fischbach told Fox News Thursday. "I think that having strong, pro-life conservative women sharing their position on the issue -- it brings that message to a new level because it is women talking about it and sharing their opinions on it."

The number of anti-abortion wins reached 18 on Monday when Iowa certified Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks' win, bringing the total for anti-abortion, female represenatives to 29, according to the pro-life Susan B. Anthony (SBA) List.

Their victories come at a time when SBA List and other leading pro-life organizations have warned that Republicans face another historic first in the agenda of Democrats who are taking office.

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Fischbach's race was unique, however, in that she was fighting against a moderate Democrat, Rep. Collin Peterson, who opposed abortion. She attributes his loss to the his rating with the National Right to Life Committee, where her mother works as an executive director, dropping to 50% in 2019. The committee also backed Fischbach despite supporting Peterson's previously re-election bids.

Peterson and others are becoming an increasingly rare breed within their party -- a reality that was underscored with Illinois Rep. Dan Lipinski's loss in his district's Democratic primary this year.

With Democrats maintaining their majority in the House, President-elect Biden seemed more likely to enact policies like a repeal of the Hyde Amendment, which blocks taxpayer funding for most abortions. Signalling the leftward drift that Fischbach and other Republicans will encounter, Biden switched his decades-old position on the law during his campaign.

Regardless, Fischbach told Fox News on Thursday that she wouldn't back down from a fight with Democrats.

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"We are going to fight back," she said. "We are going to do everything that we can to make sure that those kinds of -- like the Hyde Amendment stays in place ... taxpayer abortions are not the norm. She added that her experience in the Minnesota state senate prepared her to work with both majority and minority parties at the legislative level.

"I’ve learned to work both in minority and in the majority, and will be able to continue to use that in order to fight the kinds of things that they are promoting." 

Depending on the results of Georgia's Senate races, Fischbach and others could have very little leverage on a wide array of issues, including abortion. Besides repealing Hyde, Democrats have indicated they enshrine Roe v. Wade into federal law. And conservatives' 6-3 majority on the Supreme Court will likely hasten their fight against Republicans' anti-abortion efforts.

As Fischbach prepares to enter office, Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., seems poised to retain her speakership and continue serving as a leading opponent of abortion restrictions. Both legislators have cited their Catholic faith while espousing their positions on the issue. And with Biden becoming the second president to identify as a Catholic, the church's teaching will likely surface more in political discussions.

Of Pelosi, Fischbach said: "She has been allowed to say that she supports the woman's right to choose but I do think that if someone wants to share and follow the tenets of the Catholic Church, that's the important part, that's what really tells you what they're about."

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She added that "when first and foremost you respect the right to life, a lot of other things fall into place."

Pelosi, a feminist icon and one of the most powerful women in government, has framed the issue in terms of women's health. While speaking at a NARAL dinner last year, she said a wave of state abortion bans "ignore[d] basic morality" and declared that an "all-out assault on women’s reproductive freedoms is sweeping the nation."

Fischbach asserted that the anti-abortion position "certainly isn't" anti-woman and that "pro-life women promote other women."

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"That is, we are there to support each other -- and abortion is not the answer for women," she added.

Although polling shows that women tend to oppose abortion restrictions more than men, Fox News reported earlier this year on the overwhelming number of women leading major anti-abortion organizations in the country.