- The Washington Times - Wednesday, May 22, 2019

Rep. Tim Ryan, a 2020 presidential contender, said Wednesday the best way for his party to protect abortion rights was to “start winning elections,” by appealing successfully, again, to blue-collar voters. 

“We’re losing elections in these states. Of course, we have to fund Planned Parenthood. We’ve got to get rid of the Hyde Amendment, we have to make sure we invest in women’s health care, but the reality is we’ve got to win elections. We keep playing defense all the time on all of these issues and in all of these states and in the federal government,” the Ohio Democrat said to MSNBC.

Mr. Ryan said President Trump’s newest justices, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, have created a “pro-life” majority, which could lead to the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

“We now have the federal courts peppered with conservative pro-life justices. The Supreme Court is a conservative pro-life court. We’ve got to start moving in the right direction here politically and getting elected so we appoint the judges and we win elections in these states,” he said.

“We’ve got to start connecting with people, working class people so they vote for us so we can take care of some of these issues,” he said.

Mr. Ryan’s comments follow three states: Georgia, Alabama and Missouri, passing legislation this month limiting abortions within their states.

Georgia banned abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected, Alabama outlawed virtually all abortions in the state, including in cases of rape and incest, and Missouri passed an abortion bill banning abortions past eight weeks into pregnancy.

• Bailey Vogt can be reached at bvogt@washingtontimes.com.

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