Talking Abortion on 39th Street

After having a conversation with a pro-choice Republican at the Spitfire Grill yesterday, I am now questioning the Roe V. Wade legal decision and the broad effects it has had on current politics. The 'Pub argued that American politics would be better of if the decision was overturned in the Supreme Court, leaving the matter to be decided in state legislatures across the land. This argument is not new, it is a classic federalist position, but I've always been skeptical that pro-lifers use the federalist argument in the case of abortion as a rube to overturn the decision and then launch a campaign to lobby a conservative congress to outlaw abortion outright.
A recent ABC News/Washington Post poll found that 22% of respondents felt abortion should be legal in all cases and another 32% felt it should be legal in most cases. Most polls indicate that a strong majority of Americans support abortion rights, so I think an outright federal ban on abortion would be very unlikely. But what if abortion rights would be decided by the states.
This Boston Globe article from 2004 was the best one I could find that outlined the fallout of an overturned Roe V. Wade.
What I find ironic from reading this article is that it would be Republicans themselves that would be affected most negatively from an overturned Roe V. Wade.

"None of which can much appeal to Republican strategists who have grown comfortable with the current arrangement of at once blaming and relying on the court for legalized abortion. Which is why we may see the White House go with Gonzales, unburnished credentials and all, as its second Supreme Court nominee if a more anti-Roe judge gets Rehnquist's spot. To paraphrase a famous Republican, the party just likes having Roe to kick around."

This also made me look at the issue from the standpoint of a Democratic voter and how both parties use the ruse of either protecting or overturning Roe V. Wade as a wedge issue to get otherwise disgruntled or disinterested voters out to the polls to support a laundry list of policy proposals that have little or nothing to do with the issue of abortion.

Say hello to George if you decide to go down to the Spitfire Grill. He's a good bartender, and thorough.