Abortion Could Be Deal
Roy Moore
For some Alabama voters  supporting abortion rights may be a sin worse than some of the sexual misdeeds  Alabama GOP Senate nominee Roy Moore  has been accused of — allegations  Moore  has denied.
That's the conundrum facing the state's conservative  deeply religious electorate: Embrace Democrat Doug Jones despite his liberal stance on abortion and other social issues or vote for  Moore  anyway even if they believe there is some truth to the sexual assault allegations against him.
"The abortion issue alone is enough to buy [ Moore ] a win " predicted Brent Buchanan  an Alabama GOP pollster and consultant. "That's the one nonnegotiable for social conservatives. You're not as hardcore on taxes. 'I can give up on that ' some voters might think. But when you're talking about somebody else's life  that's a whole different ballgame. And I think that's the big difference."
 Moore  has underscored that major divide frequently at  his  campaign events  where  he 's continued to deny the accusations against  him  but also refused to answer questions from the media about the swirling scandals. Multiple women have accused the former Alabama Supreme Court chief justice of pursuing them romantically decades ago when they were teenagers and  he  was in  his  30s  and one woman has said  he  initiated sexual contact with her when she was just 14.
 Moore 's allies have also doubled down on the abortion issue in the race's final stretch. America First PAC  a pro-President Trump superPAC that's supporting  Moore  in the race  released an ad this week calling Jones's position on abortion "unforgivable " showing an ultrasound and a heartbeat that then flatlines.
 Moore  spokeswoman Jane Porter was even less subtle when she appeared on CNN Tuesday  talking to pregnant anchor Poppy Harlow and congratulating her on her "unborn child."
But  Moore  has seized upon the initial comments to MSNBC  with  his  wife  Kayla  claiming that Jones supports "full-term abortion." PolitiFact rated that claim as false  since there is no such thing as "full-term abortion."
Steven Taylor  a political science professor at Alabama's Troy University  agreed that social issues may be a sticking point that many conservative voters aren't able to overcome in voting for Jones. In addition to abortion   Moore  has hammered home  his  opposition to same-sex marriage and transgender rights.
"I think that  without a doubt  the social issues will motivate voters even if they are skeptical of the allegations against  Moore  " Taylor said. "Quite clearly  abortion is probably the most salient issue in the race  and more generally  social issues."
The fact that  Moore  is seen as a champion on social issues is nothing new. It's what propelled  him  to national political stardom — and into plenty of controversy. In 2003  he  was first removed from the state bench when  he  erected a statue of the Ten Commandments in the Alabama Judicial Building and refused to remove it even when ordered to do so by a federal court.  He  was elected again in 2012  but then subsequently suspended when  he  ordered state judges to defy the U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized gay marriage nationwide under the federal Constitution.
To Moore and  his  supporters  that defiance is a badge of honor. And it's a big reason why many voters are likely reluctant to believe the sexual misconduct and sexual assault allegations against him too  given the Christian nationalist positions he's wholeheartedly embraced in the past. And  at the crux of that is a stringent opposition to abortion.
For some Alabama voters  supporting abortion rights may be a sin worse than some of the sexual misdeeds  [TGT]has been accused of — allegations  [TGT]has denied.
That's the conundrum facing the state's conservative  deeply religious electorate: Embrace Democrat Doug Jones despite his liberal stance on abortion and other social issues or vote for  [TGT]anyway even if they believe there is some truth to the sexual assault allegations against [TGT].
"The abortion issue alone is enough to buy [TGT] a win " predicted Brent Buchanan  an Alabama GOP pollster and consultant. "That's the one nonnegotiable for social conservatives. You're not as hardcore on taxes. 'I can give up on that ' some voters might think. But when you're talking about somebody else's life  that's a whole different ballgame. And I think that's the big difference.[TGT]has underscored that major divide frequently at  [TGT]  campaign events  where  [TGT] 's continued to deny the accusations against  [TGT]  but also refused to answer questions from the media about the swirling scandals. Multiple women have accused the former Alabama Supreme Court chief justice of pursuing them romantically decades ago when they were teenagers and  he  was in  his  30s  and one woman has said  he  initiated sexual contact with her when she was just 14.
 [TGT] 's allies have also doubled down on the abortion issue in the race's final stretch. America First PAC  a pro-President Trump superPAC that's supporting  [TGT]in the race  released an ad this week calling Jones's position on abortion "unforgivable " showing an ultrasound and a heartbeat that then flatlines.
 [TGT]spokeswoman Jane Porter was even less subtle when she appeared on CNN Tuesday  talking to pregnant anchor Poppy Harlow and congratulating her on her "unborn child."
But  [TGT]has seized upon the initial comments to MSNBC  with  [TGT]  wife  Kayla  claiming that Jones supports "full-term abortion." PolitiFact rated that claim as false  since there is no such thing as "full-term abortion."
Steven Taylor  a political science professor at Alabama's Troy University  agreed that social issues may be a sticking point that many conservative voters aren't able to overcome in voting for Jones. In addition to abortion   [TGT]has hammered home  [TGT]  opposition to same-sex marriage and transgender rights.
"I think that  without a doubt  the social issues will motivate voters even if they are skeptical of the allegations against  Moore  " Taylor said. "Quite clearly  abortion is probably the most salient issue in the race  and more generally  social issues."
The fact that  [TGT]is seen as a champion on social issues is nothing new. It's what propelled  [TGT]  to national political stardom — and into plenty of controversy. In 2003  he  was first removed from the state bench when  he  erected a statue of the Ten Commandments in the Alabama Judicial Building and refused to remove it even when ordered to do so by a federal court.  He  was elected again in 2012  but then subsequently suspended when  he  ordered state judges to defy the U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized gay marriage nationwide under the federal Constitution.
To [TGT] and  [TGT]  supporters  that defiance is a badge of honor. And it's a big reason why many voters are likely reluctant to believe the sexual misconduct and sexual assault allegations against him too  given the Christian nationalist positions he's wholeheartedly embraced in the past. And  at the crux of that is a stringent opposition to abortion.