[ And we’ll do it again]
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FUCK YOU, WE WIN
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Jessica Valenti
November 8, 2023
Jessica Substack
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_ And we’ll do it again _
Issue 1 supporters cheer as they watch election results come in on
Tuesday in Columbus, Ohio., Sue Ogrocki/AP
I wish I was the kind of person who wins gracefully. Really, I do. But
when you spend a year writing about raped children being denied care
and women forced to carry doomed pregnancies to term, you tend to lose
your magnanimity.
So to every Republican politician who tried to keep voters from having
a say on abortion, and to every anti-choice activist who worked to
keep women under the government’s thumb:
FUCK YOU, WE WIN.
I cannot begin to tell you the amount of joy it brought me to find out
a little after midnight last night that Democrats gained control of
the Virginia legislature
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Because not only did it mean that abortion access would remain
relatively safe in the state—but that the multi-million dollar bet
anti-abortion groups made on their much-touted strategy failed
spectacularly. Remember, it was just over a week ago that Susan B.
Anthony Pro-Life America president, Marjorie Dannenfelser, said that
Virginia
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“the clearest bellwether going into 2024.” For the first time, I
hope Miss Marjorie is right.
SBA and other anti-choice groups may have seen our Ohio win coming
(and more on that in a minute), but they really thought they were
going to do something in Virginia. These people spent months training
candidates to claim that bans aren’t bans, and to attack their
opponents for abortion ‘extremism’. Quite a nervy message
considering voters can see with their own eyes which party is forcing
women into septic shock!
And that’s the thing: conservatives’ strategy relied on the idea
that voters weren’t smart enough to see _exactly_ what they were
doing. The anti-abortion movement thought they could change ‘ban’
to ‘consensus’
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suddenly Americans would forget about the last year of suffering.
That’s what happened in Ohio, too: Republican lawmakers and the
anti-abortion movement underestimated just how savvy—and
mad!—voters would be. They didn’t understand that people weren’t
only motivated by abortion bans, but by the constant attacks on
democracy
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watched their state leaders try every trick in the book to keep them
from having a say on abortion. The absolute walloping Republicans took
last night was a clear message from voters: _We see you_.
Obviously, it wasn’t just anger that drove people to the polls:
abortion rights advocates on the ground worked their collective asses
off to make these wins happen. They knocked on doors, phone banked,
and talked to neighbors, friends and family about what was at stake in
this election. These incredible activists didn’t stop for one single
second and last night’s wins belong to them.
If there’s any message that politicians should take from last
night’s results, it’s that ABORTION WINS ELECTIONS
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not just by a little. Ohio’s Issue 1 won with nearly 57%
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Considering the incessant attacks from GOP leaders
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it was misinformation spread by a state-run website, or getting a
Republican-crafted summary on the ballot instead of the amendment
itself—one vote over 50% would have been a massive win.
Even in red state Kentucky, Gov. Andy Beshear won
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large part by focusing on his opponent’s anti-abortion extremism.
His campaign spent millions on an ad
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a young woman, Hadley Duvall, who was raped as a child. “This is to
you, Daniel Cameron,” she said. “To tell a 12-year old girl she
must have the baby of her stepfather who raped her is unthinkable.”
Duvall was the first person that Gov. Beshear thanked in his victory
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his family, noting that, “Because of her courage, this commonwealth
is going to be a better place.”
And that’s the other big win from last night: the messaging war. For
years, anti-abortion activists and legislators counted on Democrats
treating abortion like a controversial, third rail issue. A Kentucky
candidate _campaigning _on abortion rights would be unthinkable just
a year ago.
Conservatives hoped that a few key wins last night would convince
Democrats to stop talking about abortion so much. I think it’s safe
to say that’s definitely _not_ going to happen, and watching those
hopes get dashed as results came in was a true delight. ABORTION IS
GOING TO BE THE CENTRAL ISSUE MOVING INTO 2024. I just wish it
didn’t take the end of _Roe_ for politicians to figure out what
feminists have been saying for decades: that abortion is a winning
issue.
Obviously, there’s more work to do. Last night’s wins don’t help
the people who are suffering in other states with abortion bans, and
we know that Republicans in Missouri, Florida, and any other state
considering a pro-choice ballot measure aren’t just going to roll
over. They’ve already been undermining democracy in the same way
that Ohio Republicans did, and we have lots of big fights ahead.
But for right now, for today, let’s take some time to bask in last
night’s successes. Not just because we won, but because _they
lost_. And sometimes it’s okay to be a sore winner.
_Jessica Vakenti is a writer, NYC native. 7 books, 1 kid & a lot of
opinions._
_For more columns like this one, and daily reports on abortion news,
sign up for a subscription to Abortion, Every Day:_
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