WASHINGTON, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- A Republican congressman and former head of the party's congressional fundraising effort, warns reversing Roe vs. Wade could create a backlash.
There will be "a lot of very nervous suburban candidates," Tom Davis of Virginia told reporters at a breakfast meeting, the Boston Globe reported.
Davis said as long as Roe remains a binding precedent, pro-choice Republican voters and independents have not seen the party's anti-abortion stand as a threat.
Both the new chief justice, John Roberts, and Judge Samuel Alito, President Bush's nominee to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, are personally anti-abortion. But neither has pledged to overturn Roe and Roberts, at least, said in his confirmation hearings he gives precedent great respect.
Linda DiVall, a Republican pollster, told the Globe a Supreme Court decision would be unlikely to bring a huge political shift by itself. But she said the party is already on the defensive in some suburban areas because "the absolutists don't see shades of gray" on issues like abortion, immigration and stem-cell research.
