Abortion Front and Center in the Nebraska Primaries

Last week, abortion supporter Kara Eastman narrowly defeated moderate former Representative Dan Ashford in the Democratic primary for Nebraska’s second congressional district. Although Rep. Ashford was generally unfriendly to the rights of unborn children during his brief time in Congress, he did vote in favor of a 20-week abortion limit during his stint as a state-level lawmaker.

The Democratic Party’s pro-abortion wing is prematurely ecstatic:

“Now we see, time and time again, that we do not need to abandon abortion in order to win,” Heidi Sieck, a Nebraska native and co-founder of #VoteProChoice, said after Eastman’s victory.

…which completely misses the point. No one is arguing that abortion industry favorites can’t win Democratic primaries! That’s commonplace. The argument is that abortion extremism hurts Democrats in the general election, which is probably one of the reasons why the national party backed Ashford.

Huffington Post author Daniel Marans writes that Eastman’s “candidacy in the general election provides pro-choice liberals an opportunity to show that progressive Democrats are just as capable as moderates of winning in challenging territory.” It also offers an opportunity to show exactly the opposite. If Eastman crashes and burns, abortion is likely to play a significant role.

Eastman’s general election opponent will be Republican incumbent Representative Don Bacon, who narrowly defeated Ashford in 2016. Rep. Bacon is “proud to stand in defense of the unborn as a strong advocate for pro-life policies” and has the endorsements of various pro-life organizations.

Meanwhile, in the Nebraska Senate race, pro-life incumbent Senator Deb Fischer, who is a co-sponsor of the 20-week law, won her primary and will go up against Planned Parenthood candidate Jane Raybould.

The general election will take place on November 6.