In the wake of the Republican electoral wave that saw the success of pro-life candidates, the leader of national pro-life organization Susan B. Anthony List is proclaiming that the liberal, abortion-focused “war on women” strategy is dead.
At an address at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., Wednesday, Susan B. Anthony List and Women Speak Out PAC President Marjorie Dannenfelser said, “To the extent that abortion was used as an issue by pro-abortion candidates, those candidates suffered a backlash.”
Dannenfelser’s organization utilized a highly effective ground campaign in support of pro-life Senate candidates in the pivotal swing states of Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, and North Carolina.
The pro-life leader also observed that liberal candidates such as Sen. Kay Hagan (D-NC), Michelle Nunn (D-GA), and Alison Lundergan Grimes (D-KY), who had historically been committed to abortion on demand, were forced to hide or disguise their support for abortion. Meanwhile, pro-life candidates responded with strength and fearlessness to questions about abortion.
“Clarity on abortion for them was the enemy,” Dannenfelser said. “But as we have always said, hiding from this issue is impossible. Our candidates stood strong while these three women were resoundingly defeated.”
Dannenfelser added that Kansas independent Senate candidate Greg Orman, who lost to Sen. Pat Roberts (R) on Tuesday, “literally ran away from a voter who attempted to ascertain his position on late-term abortion.”
On its website, however, Planned Parenthood, referring to abortion as “women’s health,” said regarding the midterm elections, “In some of the most competitive races, candidates who were historically hostile on women’s health won by significantly moderating their views and disavowing their own records. They won as moderates, and the American people expect them to govern as moderates.”
Dannenfelser said that SBA-List and Women Speak Out PAC clocked more than 900,000 voter contacts in the four swing states, which included 460,000 doors knocked. Contacts with voters included frank discussions about ending late-term abortion and taxpayer funding of abortion.
“Now we have a Senate that is more human when it comes to women’s politics,” she said. “It is reflective of the women of America, not a minority, moneyed power elite who too often cast men and children as obstacles to success.”