GOP told lawmakers to portray themselves as 'the compassionate, consensus-builder' on abortion policy after SCOTUS leak, report says

• A GOP memo obtained by Axios advised Republicans on their comms strategy in the wake of the SCOTUS leak.
• It said Republicans should portray their support for overturning Roe v. Wade as "compassionate."

A leaked GOP memo obtained by Axios has told Republican lawmakers to portray themselves as the "compassionate consensus-builder" on abortion policy after the leak of the Supreme Court draft opinion to overturn Roe v. Wade.

The memo by the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), which is the campaign arm of the Senate GOP, advised Republican lawmakers and candidates on their communications about the draft decision in a bid to coordinate party message, Axios reported.

"Be the compassionate, consensus-builder on abortion policy ... While people have many different views on abortion policy, Americans are compassionate people who want to welcome every new baby into the world," it said, according to Axios.

The memo went on to say that Republicans should "expose the Democrats for the extreme views they hold," claiming that "Joe Biden and the Democrats have extreme and radical views on abortion that are outside of the mainstream of most Americans," Axios reported.

It said candidates should also seek to refute what it characterised as false claims by Democrats about Republican plans, saying Republicans do not want to take away contraception, mammograms, and female-health care, or jail physicians and women.

In a Tuesday statement, the Democratic National Committee said that Republican support for overturning Roe v. Wade was an "extremist" policy that infringed on women's rights. Polls show that most Americans oppose overturning the landmark 1973 decision and the five decades of legal precedent it set.

If the conservative-majority Supreme Court upholds the draft decision, it is expected to be one of the key issues of the November 2022 midterms and the 2024 presidential election.

Democratic lawmakers are pledging to pass a bill to codify the Roe v. Wade ruling if they retain control of Congress after the midterms. Meanwhile, Republicans are rallying around the draft opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade, hailing it as a triumph and potential realization of one of the conservative movement's longterm objectives.