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NYT: “A spokeswoman…said that Ms. Steel ‘is pro-life with the exceptions of rape, incest, and health of the mother.’ The bill she endorsed on Friday does not include those exceptions.”
This morning, in response to questioning from The New York Times, Michelle Steel chose to once again sign on to a federal abortion ban containing no exceptions — even in the cases of rape, incest, or the life of the mother.
Steel’s decision to double down on banning access to reproductive health care only came after “The New York Times notified her of a story documenting her change in position.”
To make matters worse, her staff has maintained that Steel supports exceptions — even though the bill Steel just sponsored has none.
DCCC Spokesperson Dan Gottlieb:
“With reproductive rights in more jeopardy than ever before, Michelle Steel decided now was the perfect time to once again sign on to a nationwide abortion ban with no exceptions for rape, incest, or life of the mother. California women won’t forget what Michelle Steel just chose to do – and they’ll hold her to account for that betrayal next November.”
Read more below on Michelle Steel’s decision to sponsor a national abortion ban:
The New York Times: With Roe Gone, Some House Republicans Back Away From National Abortion Ban
Annie Karni | January 12, 2024
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In 2021, Representative Michelle Steel, a California Republican whose district President Biden won in 2020, cosponsored the Life at Conception Act, a bill to recognize a fertilized egg as a person with equal protections under the 14th Amendment.
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It was a year before the Supreme Court would overturn Roe v. Wade. Ms. Steel was one of 166 House Republicans — then roughly three-quarters of the conference — who would ultimately sign on to the legislation, which amounted to a nationwide abortion ban. She did so just weeks after it was introduced.
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For Republicans at the time, the sweeping potential impact of the bill was not seen as problematic. With Roe v. Wade, which recognized a constitutional right to an abortion as the law of the land, the measure could have little practical effect. It was mostly a gesture of support for the anti-abortion movement, a vital source of political backing for the G.O.P. And Democrats, who controlled the House at the time, would never bring it up for a vote anyway.
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By last year, when House Republicans introduced identical legislation, the landscape had changed considerably. The Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization overturned Roe, setting off a race by many states to impose severe restrictions, and abortion bans became a politically toxic issue for Republicans in elections across the country. The G.O.P. also was back in control of the House, if only narrowly, with the power to control what came to the floor.
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Ms. Steel waited nearly a year to sign on — doing so on Friday morning, only after her Democratic challenger criticized her for flip-flopping on the issue for political gain and The New York Times notified her of a story documenting her change in position. Nearly three dozen other Republican lawmakers who supported it during the last Congress, including several who face tough re-election races in competitive districts, have yet to sign on again.
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The shift reflects how dramatically the demise of Roe has changed the calculus for the G.O.P. on abortion, posing a dilemma for members of a party that still wants to appeal to conservative voters who favor severe restrictions without alienating a growing majority in the country that does not.
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Speaker Mike Johnson, an evangelical Christian who has put his faith at the forefront of his politics throughout his career, has called abortion “an American holocaust.” But even he has conceded the political reality of the moment and said he was not pushing to bring contentious social issues to the floor this year.
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Over the year and a half since the Dobbs decision, it has become clear to many Republicans that taking away a right that women have had for decades does not lead to a positive political outcome for them. About 69 percent of voters think abortion should be legal in the first three months of pregnancy, according to a recent Gallup poll, a record high.
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Democrats have taken advantage of the dynamic, highlighting their efforts to protect abortion access and attacking Republicans who have previously sought to restrict or ban it — even if they have since inched away from their position or simply gone quiet on the issue.
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A spokeswoman for Ms. Steel, Claire Nance, criticized The Times for inquiring about whether the congresswoman had changed her position and said that Ms. Steel “is pro-life with the exceptions of rape, incest, and health of the mother.” The bill she endorsed on Friday does not include those exceptions.
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