Abortion emerges as top issue for Democrats as Republicans focus on crime and inflation

ALBANY — Within the hour of the leak of a draft ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that would overturn Roe v. Wade, Gov. Kathy Hochul’s campaign account declared on Twitter that "reproductive rights are on the ballot this year."

By the next day a campaign solicitation to voters asked for them to make a "donation today to support Gov. Kathy Hochul in the fight to defend reproductive rights." And by the following day, the Hochul campaign released two commercials on abortion, titled, "always protect" and "strength."

In the week since, Hochul and the state Democratic Party have made the focus of their campaigns and fundraising efforts, at least for the moment, the issue of abortion. At the same time, Republicans have sought to keep attention on their bread-and-butter issues of soaring violent crime and spiraling inflation along with other economic woes ahead of this year's elections in the largely pro-choice state. 

"What that has done is it’s reshuffled the whole deck of cards going into the November election," New York State Democratic Party Chairman Jay Jacobs said in an interview Wednesday about the draft ruling from the nation’s highest court. 

He said he could not overstate what a "wake up call" to Democratic voters the draft ruling has been and that the Supreme Court managed to "energize what had been a lethargic Democratic electorate."

"When Republicans were counting on being on the offensive, I think they’re going to find themselves, in the large measure, on the defensive," Jacobs said. 

The issue, to Jacobs, is not only about women’s reproductive health, but also about reaffirming for the Democratic base the importance and consequences of elections. Judges appointed by former President Donald J. Trump may help tilt the expected outcome of a court case that could overturn a precedent that has legalized abortion nationwide for nearly half a century. 

Democrats in Jacobs' Nassau County rallied on abortion rights over the weekend, led by state Sen. Anna Kaplan, who is expected to face a competitive general election in November against former state Sen. Jack Martins. Also attending the rally on Long Island was state Attorney General Letitia James, who recently disclosed she had an abortion two decades ago. U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer also gave stump speeches on abortion rights over the weekend. 

Hochul has elevated the issue both on the campaign side and in her official position as the state’s executive. 

From her Twitter account, more than half of the posts since the leak have been about abortion. 

Her campaign spokeswoman, Jen Goodman, called the draft opinion a "wake-up call to what’s at stake if New York Republicans have their way with their extreme, anti-choice agenda."

From the office of governor, Hochul directed the state to spend $35 million to increase access to abortion for people coming from out of the state and to ensure their safety when the arrive to a clinic. The Supreme Court ruling, if it is issued in the form outlined in the draft decision, would not change the legalization of abortion in New York, and would leave the issue to states to regulate.

"This is 'never let a crisis go to waste' manufactured hysteria designed to distract from the absolute dumpster fire they’ve created in New York," state Republican Party Chairman Nick Langworthy said in a statement following Hochul’s announcement about the $35 million to expand access. 

The Republican Party has generally stuck to the issues it’s been campaigning on since Hochul took office, including crime, government corruption and the economy, but in interviews, they offered their views on the fallout of the leak of the court ruling on abortion. 

"If they spend from now until November talking about abortion when people can’t afford their grocery bills, moms can’t get formula for their babies, people are being gunned down on the streets of New York City, they are going to look woefully out of touch with everyday concerns of the average person," state GOP spokeswoman Jessica Proud said in an interview. 

Proud noted that New York is firmly a pro-choice state, but she said there is a limit to how far voters will go to support abortion-related legislation and amendments and that Democrats risk an "overreach" on the issue.

Gubernatorial candidate U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-Long Island, was particularly critical of efforts by Democratic lawmakers, which are at least in part supported by Hochul, to push for a constitutional amendment to enshrine the right to abortion in New York.

In 2019, Democratic lawmakers in the Legislature and with former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's support, passed and enacted the Reproductive Health Act, which codified the state's abortion protections.

The act allowed someone to get an abortion after 24 weeks pregnant, if it would protect a women's health or when a fetus is not viable, and legalized abortion procedures to be performed by not just physicians, but also any licensed, certified or authorized health care practitioner who handles abortion.

A constitutional amendment, which could not go before voters until at least 2023, would look to go a step further and clearly codify it in New York.

"This is about politics," Zeldin said. "This is about selfish calculations. So you try to find ways to go further. You can’t really go much further."

He said Democrats are pushing the abortion issue to the center to make up for a "huge enthusiasm gap."

Hochul, in an interview with NY1 last week, said that Democrats would run on abortion. "We need to," she added. 

Hochul’s opponents in the Democratic primary, which was recently pushed from June 28 to Aug. 23 after Democrats produced political boundary maps that were thrown out by a court as unconstituional, both support abortion. 

"As far as the primary goes, there’s no daylight between the governor and I," U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-Long Island, told reporters Wednesday. "But as far as crime and taxes, we got big differences."

Suozzi’s news conference was centered around the issues of public safety. He said reducing crime should be the top priority — echoing a sentiment the GOP has pushed and that has been reflected in polling that came out prior to the abortion news.

New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams said in a statement that he would like to see the Legislature act immediately by taking further actions to support and strengthen the right to an abortion. 

He and his running mate Ana Maria Archila, a progressive running for lieutenant governor, are calling for the passage of the "Reproductive Freedom and Equity Fund," which go a step further than Hochul’s push this week to provide $35 million to expand abortion access. 

There has been renewed energy from candidates in New York to support abortion rights and expand them, Sophie Nir, executive director of Eleanor's Legacy, a group founded in 2001 that seeks to elect pro-choice Democratic women in New York. Campaigns from Hochul, James and New York State Comptroller Tom Dinapoli have reached out, she said. 

But for Nir it also is bigger than a moment to win the upcoming election.

"It’s so much bigger than politics of the moment," Nir said. "There’s no points to be scored off of a tragedy like this that are going to make us feel any better."

The group is calling for sanctuary states for abortion procedures, but it is also concerned about potential action taken in Congress that could supercede those efforts.

"We cannot be shortsighted here," Nir said. "The scope of what we’re talking about is massive. I would feel exceptionally uncomfortable suggesting it is a benefit to us when it could be that in two years we have a very different federal landscape and they enact a nationwide abortion ban."