Even as Republicans\u2019 efforts to restrict abortion rights appear to have hurt candidates in key races over the last year, the party\u2019s chairwoman said on Thursday morning that she welcomed the protracted \u2014 and at times, contentious \u2014 discussion of the topic in the first Republican presidential debate on Wednesday night.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was very pleased to see them talk about abortion,\u201d Ronna McDaniel, the chair of the Republican National Committee, said on \u201cFox & Friends.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to an analysis by The New York Times, abortion was the most-discussed topic among the eight candidates, outlasting discussion of former President Donald J. Trump, the Republican front-runner, by more than a minute.<\/p>\n
Ms. McDaniel noted that Democrats had successfully campaigned on the issue of abortion rights in last year\u2019s midterm elections and were likely to do so again in 2024. Democrats have sought to harness a backlash to the Supreme Court\u2019s decision last year to overturn Roe v. Wade, eliminating the constitutional right to an abortion. The issue appears to have helped motivate voter turnout for Democrats and has become politically risky for Republicans. Many have sought to play down the subject.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf our candidates aren\u2019t able to find a response and put out a response, we\u2019re not going to win,\u201d Ms. McDaniel said.<\/p>\n
But if Ms. McDaniel welcomed the discussion Wednesday night, so, too, did some Democrats and abortion rights activists, who were eager to remind voters that most Republicans \u2014 including those on the debate stage \u2014 are far to the right of public opinion.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomeone tell her they\u2019re also not going to win if they do talk about abortion,\u201d a leading abortion rights group, Naral Pro-Choice America, responded on X, formerly known as Twitter.<\/p>\n
This month, Ohio voters rebuffed a Republican-backed ballot measure that would have made it more difficult to amend the state\u2019s constitution, an effort by Republicans to make it harder for voters to preserve abortion rights through an amendment. Though abortion was not technically on the ballot, discussion of the issue dominated the conversation.<\/p>\n
While a 2024 candidate\u2019s fierce opposition to abortion may help draw voters in a Republican primary, that stance could hurt them with moderate or independent voters in a general election.<\/p>\n
A New York Times\/Siena College poll from July found significant opposition to abortion among likely Republican voters, with 56 percent saying abortion should be mostly or always illegal, and 58 percent saying they backed a 15-week federal abortion ban.<\/p>\n
But the federal ban had significantly less support among a broader pool of voters, with 53 percent saying they would oppose it, and 61 percent saying abortion should be mostly or always legal.<\/p>\n
The exchange at Wednesday night\u2019s debate laid bare this tension, exposing divisions within the Republican Party and those seeking to be its standard-bearer. While all eight candidates have voiced support for the Supreme Court\u2019s decision, they disagree on whether to enact a federal abortion ban or leave those measures to the states.<\/p>\n
Former Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina both backed a 15-week national ban, a policy that Mr. Pence has challenged everyone in the field to embrace. Mr. Pence sparred over the issue with Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor, who argued that a federal abortion ban was politically impractical and urged Republicans \u201cto stop demonizing this issue.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida \u2014 who signed a six-week abortion ban into law in his state \u2014 hedged, saying he would support \u201cthe side of life\u201d while also acknowledging that \u201cWisconsin is going to do it different than Texas.\u201d<\/p>\n
But in her appearance on Fox News, Ms. McDaniel sought to highlight the party\u2019s unity, saying that all eight candidates had successfully painted their political opponents as extreme on the issue. Mr. Scott, for example, claimed falsely that New York, California and Illinois allowed abortions without limits up until birth.<\/p>\n
Mr. Trump, who opted to skip the debate, has been less clear about his views on an abortion ban. His appointments to the Supreme Court cleared the way for its decision on abortion. But Mr. Trump has not yet backed a federal ban, and his campaign has suggested that he wants to leave abortion policy up to individual states. During his presidency, he at one point supported a ban after 20 weeks\u2019 gestation.<\/p>\n