ABORTION/DEMS/ELECTION/GOP/MIKE PENCE/NEW YORK/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “When New York expanded abortion rights last week for the first time in 49 years, Democrats across the state were exultant. Now, that jubilation has been met with an equal and opposite reaction. Anti-abortion advocates, from grass-roots activists all the way to the White House, are taking aim at New York, Virginia and other states in a bid to halt similar legislative efforts by emboldened Democratic lawmakers and to mobilize supporters ahead of the 2020 presidential race. By Thursday [1-31-19], both President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence had leaned into the debate, homing in on provisions that would loosen some restrictions on late-term abortions. Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter that the Democrats had become the ‘party of late-term abortion,’ and Mr. Pence viewed the effort in New York and Virginia as a ‘call to action for all Americans.’”
–Vivian Wang, “Trump, Pence Lead G.O.P. Seizure of Late-Term Abortion as a Potent 2020 Issue,” The New York Times online, January 31, 2019