It’s one of the most curious approaches to a lopsided public policy battle I’ve seen, and yet it continues to work.  The propensity of pro-abortion advocates to play the underdog is so frighteningly effective, I have to ask if the portion of the general population that falls for it has taken complete leave of their senses.

I understand this approach meets the “speak truth to power” mantra that the political left has adopted.  But it doesn’t pass the smell test.  Abortion rights rules the day in this country.  It rules in every state of the union.  To say it bluntly (and this may be depressing for pro-life activists), there is absolutely nothing that stops a woman in any state from having their unborn child legally killed in the womb at any stage of pregnancy. 

The “health exception” mandate of the Supreme Court guarantees it.  All the hoops, all the obstacles – things like parental consent, waiting periods, required ultrasounds – may discourage the practice or slow down the efficiency of the kill, but abortion on demand is the law of the land.  Abortion advocates have the legal culture they want, end of story.

That’s what makes comments like these so perplexing:

“Republicans have scheduled a vote Monday on legislation that would ban some women's health care choices. We can't turn back the clock on women's reproductive health.” Kamala Harris

“The attacks on abortion rights that we see now would not be happening if 80 percent of the U.S. Senate were women, not men.” Bernie Sanders

“We cannot for a minute lose sight of the fact that women’s right to control our own bodies is under attack. As long as people in power continue to infringe on that right, the rest of us have to fight twice as hard to protect it. The solution is to change who’s in power.” Kirsten Gillibrand

Perhaps Alexandria DeSanctis responds to this issue than anyone:

“It’s astonishing that abortion proponents get away with portraying themselves as powerless underdogs fighting the system, when in fact they have every structural advantage and are campaigning for the unlimited right to oppress the weak.”

The only dynamic I can compare this to is the humorous transition the ex-hippies from the 1960s who dedicated their lives to rebelling against “the man,” made as they literally became “the man.”  The ones who protested on college campuses now run college campuses.  The ones who loathed the media now run the media.  The ones who hated on the government now make the laws.

It’s the same principle.  You shouldn’t get to play the victimized minority when you control the power and have exactly what you want.  But for some reason the left consistently gets away with it.