Republicans could be taking a victory lap. Here’s why they aren’t.

Republicans don’t want to talk about when women should retain the right to end a pregnancy, or what services politicians will provide to parents forced to have children they might not want or be able to afford. Democrats should force them to vote on these issues, one by one. An earlier Democratic procedural vote for a bill that would have enshrined the right to abortion into federal law failed in the Senate last month. But the bill was broad enough that even normally pro-choice Republican senators (such as Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska) were willing to vote against it as “overly broad.” Democrats should break this issue into parts and force Republicans to answer all those sensitive questions they’ve been ducking. For instance: Do they support a federal right to abortion in, say, the first trimester? Yes or no? What about a right to abortion if the mother’s health is at risk? Or if the pregnancy resulted from rape or incest? Should states be able to ban IUDs and any other contraceptives that prevent implantation of a fertilized egg? What about paid leave and other programs that provide resources to new moms and their babies? Should states that ban abortion be required to provide postpartum health care to women forced into unwanted (and sometimes dangerous) births? Republicans have been frustratingly opaque about their agenda (and not only as it relates to reproductive health). Democrats must get them on the record either committing to the protections and programs American women need — or fessing up to the unpopular positions they have been trying to hide. ~Catherine Rampell Columnist https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/06/28/republicans-could-be-taking-victory-lap-heres-why-they-arent/