Republicans backing away from abortion ban: 'Outlaw Abortion Week is not on our schedule'

House Republicans are reading the writing on the wall and seem to be giving up on abortion as a culture war wedge issue.

Abortion has been on the ballot in seven states since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, with voters approving reproductive rights each time, and many GOP lawmakers are distancing themselves from the issue, reported The Daily Beast.

“We haven’t won over the culture yet, and if you push too hard here, you're going to lose people here,” said Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX), "and so those are reasonable political discussions to have.”

Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) has called for Congress to take a more active role on reproductive rights after Ohio voters passed a referendum approving abortion, but others say voters are making their view on the issue clear over and over.

“[Republicans have to] take stock that post-Dobbs the American people want every level of government to more appropriately respect the difficult choices women have to make," said Rep. Marc Molinaro (R-NY), who represents a district won by Joe Biden in 2020. “We have to recognize that these are difficult choices and politicizing them is not helping."

Newly elected House speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), a staunch conservative whose political career is largely based on opposing abortion, admits there's "no national consensus" on the issue, and Crenshaw says the idea that House Republicans are pushing to end abortion rights is a “myth created by Democrats."

“There’s no agenda,” Crenshaw said. “There’s nothing on our schedule like, ‘Abortion Week,’ like ‘Let’s Outlaw Abortion Week.’ Like that’s just not on our schedule. So what the hell are people talking about?”