Always good to check in with Ms. Valenti to see what the Anti-Abortion crowd is up to this election season.
The GOP’s 2028 Abortion Strategy in One Word: Massachusetts
Republican candidates will lean into “late” abortion. Democrats need to be ready.
Jessica Valenti
Aug 26, 2026
After four years of struggling to talk about abortion, Republicans think they’ve found the message that will take them through the midterms and into 2028: Massachusetts. In the few weeks since the state legalized abortion throughout pregnancy, conservative pundits, Republican lawmakers, and anti-abortion activists have all glommed onto the new law as ‘proof’ that Democrats are abortion extremists.
Right-wing strategists—whose abortion messages have continually fallen flat with Americans—are certain that this is their in with voters. And last week, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America advised Republican candidates that “going on offense to call out Democrats’ extremism on late-term abortion” moves the polling margin by 4-5 points.
“Pro-life candidates should be relentlessly pressing their opponents over their support for these barbaric, late procedures,” president Marjorie Dannenfelser wrote in a memo. She urged Republicans to be “aggressive” in bringing the conversation back to later abortion, using Massachusetts as a jumping off point.
That means it’s past time for Democrats to get their own abortion messaging in order—namely, by standing up from their defensive crouch and finally telling voters what they want to hear: the government has no place in pregnancy at any point.
For far too long, Democratic candidates have been hesitant to openly support abortion throughout pregnancy—instead relying on calls to “restore Roe,” or suggesting that ‘later’1 abortion almost never happens. But that message is getting harder to credibly (and ethically) maintain.
Republican bans aren’t just driving up the need for later access by making it harder for women to get abortions earlier in their pregnancies2—they’re shining a light on why care must be available at every single stage. Many of the horror stories Americans have heard over the past four years—women going septic, forced to carry doomed pregnancies, or dying in hospitals—have been about patients who were “later” in their pregnancies.
Every day since the end of Roe has proved how dangerous it is for the government to legislate abortion at all. Tepid defenses aren’t enough.
This isn’t just about what’s morally right, but what’s politically necessary. It’s foolish to think Democratic candidates can continue to sidestep or dismiss abortion throughout pregnancy, especially with Republicans preparing to weaponize Massachusetts’ new law. While the GOP has been making noise about abortion “up until birth” for years—and though Massachusetts isn’t the only state that allows abortion after 24 weeks3—this attack won’t be business as usual.
Republicans are backed into a corner on abortion. Their bans haven’t reduced the number of abortions, but are driving up maternal and infant mortality rates. The longer bans exist, the more likely it is that those statistics will hit close to home for voters; it won’t be long before most Americans know someone who’s been hurt by a ban. That means the already-unpopular laws are primed to become even more hated.
At the same time, the GOP’s pro-woman charade is being undermined and overshadowed by a growing extremist sect that wants to jail or execute women who end their pregnancies. Anti-abortion extremism has become so difficult to hide that Republican leaders floated the idea of doing away with the term ‘pro-life’ because it carries so much baggage. Even the Trump administration has deemed abortion a losing issue, and has distanced itself accordingly.
All of which is to say: anti-abortion activists and lawmakers are desperate for a message that sticks—one that makes it seem like they’re the reasonable ones. They believe Massachusetts is that message.
ICAM with Ms. Valenti. Defend a woman’s body autonomy. The falsehood that a woman just wakes up one day and decides that she doesn’t want a baby in the third trimester – just stop with the foolishness.
The way she treated her ballot with COMPLETE FRIVOLITY IS REVOLTING.
Post-Left Watch (postleftwatch.bsky.social)
@PostLeftWatch
Evan Barker, a former DNC campaign operative, tells Cenk Uygur that she voted for Trump in 2024 as a protest vote in order “shock and piss off” everyone she used to know.
https://x.com/PostLeftWatch/status/2094965018349711658
Yet another reason why I stay in my Blue state.
@GOP__Ls
GOP Ls
@GOP__Ls
🚨 Indiana Republicans have now made sleeping on public property punishable by up to 60 days in jail.
This comes after they blocked funding for homeless shelters.
https://x.com/GOP__Ls/status/2095210288857440478
This poor young man.
Far too young.
RIP :(
20-year-old Haitian who had just graduated high school and had recently lost temporary protected status died by suicide Monday, according to an advocacy group representing his family.
Pierre Damas Bel, who arrived in the U.S. in 2024 to reunite with his parents who had fled Haiti, got out of his vehicle on an interstate in Springfield, Ohio, and walked into traffic, law enforcement officials told local news outlets.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol told ABC News it is investigating Bel’s death. In a statement, the agency confirmed that Bel parked on Interstate 70, exited his Toyota and entered the westbound lanes of the highway.
https://abcnews.com/US/haitian-graduated-high-school-takes-life-after-losing/story?id=136114654
Eric Daugherty
@EricLDaugh
🚨 WOW! Speaker Johnson just emerged and announced a Constitutional amendment to BAN Democrats from packing the Supreme Court
“We’re putting the bill on the floor TOMORROW!”
“We WILL have them put their money where their mouth is!”
“We are going to bring a constitutional amendment. It is a bill to amend the U.S. Constitution to ensure that the U.S. Supreme Court remains composed of only 9 justices. We will keep the nine!”
“Now, you’ve heard the Democrat Socials of America. The Communist Socialists and the Democrat Party, who are taking the party over. They publish their platform.”
“You know, they want to abolish the border. They want to abolish prisons, defund police. One of their objectives among all the crazy things is they want to pack the U.S. Supreme Court.”
“We’re going to make sure that doesn’t happen. So we’re going to put that bill on the floor tomorrow on suspension because it requires a two-third vote of both chambers of Congress to amend the Constitution.”
“Republicans are here to work. We have a lot more left to do. We’re going to keep demonstrating the American people every day that their priorities are our priorities.”
@SpeakerJohnson
https://x.com/EricLDaugh/status/2094856135987896489
i Expose Violent Criminals
@SeeRacists
🚨 SHE YELLED “HAIL HITLER” IN A ROSS
A racist shopper at Ross accused the attendant of calling her a thief.
The employee said she was not. She asked if those clothes had been put back. Store policy.
The shopper called her rude. Said she would call a manager. She saw a black man and her Low IQ immediately came out she yelled “Hail Hitler.”
The employee told her that was enough and to leave.
She did not get accused of stealing. She lost an argument about hangers.
10:35 AM · Sep 2, 2026
https://x.com/SeeRacists/status/2095173818935562391
Loni Love
@LoniLove
Yesterday John Galliano bowed out of the Met Costume Institute’s 2027 “John Galliano: Horizons” theme as the museum faced intense backlash to its decision to bestow such a high honor on a fashion designer with a history of antisemitic and racist outbursts. May Allure recommend a far more unifying figure? It’s someone who was never caught on a camera or a hot mic saying anything hurtful or judgmental about another person or group. Someone who chose, again and again, to use the financial fruits of her incredible talent to give back. And someone whose motivation in her fashion and beauty choices was to create a character, to have fun, and to spread joy. And a spectacle of unabashed, unpretentious joy sounds pretty good right about now doesn’t it? Head to the link in our bio where we make the case for a 2027 Met Gala that celebrates Dolly Parton.
Photos: Getty Images via @Allure_magazine
11:44 AM · Sep 1, 2026
https://x.com/LoniLove/status/2094828727565971693
NOTUS Metro
@notusmetro.bsky.social
Follow
The Kennedy Center removed the famous “Blue” outdoor sculpture from its grounds on Wednesday.
http://www.notus.org/metro/kenned...
Elderest Millennial
@ebwell.bsky.social
Follow
You wanna know why he had the trees cut down and the statue removed? He’s gonna tear down the Kennedy Center.
https://bsky.app/profile/ebwell.bsky.social/post/3mukd22xjd22k
@THR
The Hollywood Reporter
@THR
Elon Musk documentary, ‘Musk,’ contends that his four-month stint in Washington last year did more than gleefully ax 270,000 federal employees and untold billions in life-saving aid.
Director Alex Gibney suggests that Musk also had access to and potentially collected intimate data on tens of millions of Americans possibly even for later political use.
Geoffrey Hinton, the Nobel-prize-winning godfather of AI, offers a specific use case: leveraging the data into an unfair campaign advantage. “It’s fairly clear to me that Trump is hell-bent on corrupting the midterm elections,” he says onscreen. “If you wanted to corrupt those midterm elections and you wanted to use AI, all you needed to do was get detailed information on U.S. citizens. And what DOGE did looked like just what you would do.”
Read the exclusive THR cover story on ‘Musk’:
bit.ly/4qSLyuX
https://x.com/THR/status/2095145032869085523
RIP
Funkatopia
@funkatopia
R.I.P. – More sad news. Cassandra Wilson has passed away, but peacefully and surrounded by family. Our prayers are with friends and family she has left behind.
https://x.com/funkatopia/status/2095207879825412126
TrueBlue
@AotearoaNew77
First highlight a problem that doesn’t exist then focus on finding evidence that dosnt exist then claim victory. Haitians eating dogs again?
Trump Administration Begins Blitz to Find Elusive Voter Fraud Ahead of Midterms
https://x.com/AotearoaNew77/status/2095240738644873499
Headquarters
@HQNewsNow
2h
Trump says Americans have too many holidays and that people need to work more days to boost his failing economy
Trill Clinton
@aStatesman
Mark my words. This is a lead-up to him eliminating Juneteenth and MLK Day as Federal Holidays.
https://x.com/aStatesman/status/2095167524111323390
Wes Moore
@iamwesmoore
Being the only Black governor in America and the first in my state’s history, isn’t something I wear as a badge of honor. It’s long past time we change that.
https://x.com/iamwesmoore/status/2095138175718957087
All of us who worked in COVID wards saw the horror of COVID. All sorts of people died- those with comorbidities. Those previously healthy. They died fast and often alone, except for their nurse (heroes). This guy can go fuck himself with his revisionist history 🤬🤬🤬
— Dimitri Drekonja, MD, MS (@dimitridrekonja.bsky.social) 2026-08-30T17:41:18.368Z
White House records belong to you, not the president. But Trump wants a free pass to destroy his files so we never get the full story about how he wasted tax dollars. House Democrats are fighting back in court. No president is allowed to hide the truth from Americans. http://www.cnn.com/trump-white-...
— Rep. Shontel Brown (@repshontelbrown.bsky.social) 2026-08-31T13:59:50.501Z
NBA Hoops
@Thechat101
Jaylen Brown exposing the behind-the-scenes realities of the NBA. He says most players have handlers who won’t let them invest in their communities, and help build the next Black Wall Street. Once you start doing that, he says, they begin attacking you media personalities like Colin Cowherd push certain narratives, and media companies come after you simply because you want to create change in your community.
https://x.com/Thechat101/status/2094268768813732254
Magdi Jacobs
@magi_jay
22h
This is racist, anti-empirical BS that is absolutely intended to undermine the base of the Democratic party. The Dem party would be obsolete if it weren’t for Black voters in general.
Almost every negative force on the political internet has the motive of dividing Democrats. Show more
12:42 PM · Aug 30, 2026
Howard ✡. 🟦🇮🇱🎗🧡
@HowardA_AtLaw
It’s intentional. The DSA wanted the voting rights act gutted because, as one of their little shits literally said “Black voters are defanging white progressives”. DSA candidate literally said that, his words
https://x.com/HowardA_AtLaw/status/2094118687456325750
UH HUH
UH HUH
Max Blumenthal
@MaxBlumenthal
Netanyahu appeals to Israeli voters by boasting that he manipulated Trump:
“it took a long time to get the US to come to its senses” but I finally got it to attack Iran due to my “influence” over its leaders through “1000 hours on American television”
https://x.com/MaxBlumenthal/status/2094386684557132129
Good Morning, Everyone😊😊😊