Congressional Democrats are seeking to capitalize on Republican opposition to a nationwide guarantee for access to contraceptives.
That may be a challenge for Rep. Mike Levin, D-San Juan Capistrano, in his re-election bid against Republican businessman Matt Gunderson.
for ensuring birth control availability tends to be stronger in public opinion polls than even access to abortion, which generally has substantial . Both are driving the Democratic emphasis on protecting reproductive rights.
Gunderson recently addressed both.
“I am a pro-choice Republican who believes abortions should be safe, legal and rare,” he said in a statement released by his campaign last week. “I also understand the importance of contraception and the ability of women to obtain it. I do not restrictions to contraception.”
But Gunderson didn’t answer two questions: Would he vote for the Democrats’ Right to Contraception Act? Would he the discharge petition Democrats are using to bring the act to the House floor?
On Wednesday, Senate Republicans again blocked a bill aimed at guaranteeing access to birth control. In 2022, the House, then controlled by Democrats, ed the Right to Contraception Act, but it was defeated by Republicans in the Senate.
Gunderson is trying to thread the needle here. He states for abortion and birth control access, but that doesn’t square with his positions on related legislation. He opposed California’s Proposition 1, approved by voters in 2022, to place guarantees to abortion and contraception access in the state constitution.
Earlier this year, he didn’t directly address a question from The San Diego Union-Tribune editorial board about whether he would federal legislation restricting or protecting abortion rights.
“The Supreme Court has placed this issue in the hands of each state. California voters spoke clearly when they ed Proposition 1 in 2022,” he answered.
The Levin campaign is intent on questioning the authenticity of Gunderson’s for reproductive rights.
That approach was taken by Catherine Blakespear in 2022 when the former Encinitas mayor narrowly defeated Gunderson for a North County state Senate seat. Among other things, Blakespear’s campaign noted that Gunderson was endorsed by the California Pro-Life PAC, the political action committee for Californians for Life and California Pro-Life Council.
Levin’s campaign is doing so as well.
“Not only did Gunderson openly oppose a measure to enshrine the right to reproductive care in California’s state constitution — which residents of California’s 49th district overwhelmingly ed — he also sought from the most extreme anti-abortion organization, advocating for a total ban on abortion without exceptions for rape or incest,” Levin campaign manager Adam Berkowitz said in a statement.
Still, making that case is tougher against an opponent who pledges to access to abortion, instead of someone who openly expresses opposition.
The Supreme Court’s Dodd decision in 2022 overturning the Roe v. Wade constitutional right to abortion reshaped the political landscape.
Democrats have pushed abortion protections in state and federal legislation and ballot measures across the country. Efforts to guarantee access to birth control is a second wave in that strategy.
Several Republicans in the House and Senate said they access to contraceptives but opposed the Democratic legislation, contending it was political gamesmanship.
There’s no question Democratic leaders have made a priority of highlighting Republican votes against the measures throughout this year’s campaign. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has said he plans to bring the proposal back, maybe repeatedly, even though there’s no chance of it ing.
The political maneuvering doesn’t mean the threat to birth control access isn’t real. Several states have moved to limit, ban or block funding for various forms of contraceptives.
In his concurring opinion on the Dobbs decision, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote the court “should reconsider” other precedents beyond Roe, including those protecting same-sex marriage and the right to contraception.
Subsequently, Congress ed the Respect for Marriage Act, which codifies same-sex and interracial marriages, on bipartisan votes and President Joe Biden signed it into law. Not so with protections for birth control or abortion.
By coincidence or design, the Democratic initiatives on contraception came as Biden issued an executive order limiting asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border. That’s an interesting juxtaposition of two potentially defining issues of the fall campaign.
Democrats like to portray themselves as going on the offensive on both. But the border action is really a defensive measure aimed at a huge societal, logistical and political problem for Democrats. Democrats hope to make Republicans pay a price for killing a sweeping bipartisan border enforcement bill at the behest of former President Donald Trump. So far, there’s little evidence of that happening.
Meanwhile, Gunderson and other Republicans pounced.
“The fact is Joe Biden, aided by his ers in Congress like Mike Levin, poured gasoline on an already smoldering fire when he ended most of the Trump border policies in 2021,” Gunderson said in a statement.
Polls show Trump clearly has the advantage over Biden when it comes to immigration. Conversely, the Democrats are more in sync with public opinion on reproductive rights.
Last week may have foreshadowed how candidates locally and nationally will play to their perceived strengths — and opponents’ weaknesses — in this election year.
What they said
Rebecca Louie, affordable housing developer and board chair of the San Diego Housing Federation, in a Union-Tribune commentary.
“The average monthly Social Security payment in San Diego is about $1,800. The average studio apartment is about $1,900. It is no wonder 30 percent of our homeless population is age 55 and over.”
