The Abortion Debate Returns With Risks For Both Parties
Left, Right & Center
KCRW
3.9 • 5K Ratings
🗓️ 8 May 2026
⏱️ 53 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Abortion is back at center stage in our politics after a federal appeals court halted access to a mail-order abortion medication. We’ll talk about next steps in the Supreme Court and the decision facing both parties on whether to lean into this issue at this moment. Democrats know it can galvanize their base, but do they want to take attention away from affordability? On the right, could this expose President Trump’s failure to deliver the strong message on abortion that many supporters wanted?
As we go deeper into this midterm election year, we’re also learning that President Trump can still dictate how some elections play out. He sank some incumbent Republicans in Indiana who refused to stand with him on redistricting. And in Texas, if the President doesn’t decide soon who to endorse in the U.S. Senate, the two GOP candidates risk draining their resources.
And there’s a chaotic mess for Democrats in the race for California’s governor. It’s a mess that could lead to a Republican replacing Gavin Newsom.
Producer: Leo Duran
Host: David Greene
Guests:
- Mo Elleithee, executive director at Georgetown University's Institute of Politics and Public Service - @MoElleithee
- Sarah Isgur, senior editor at The Dispatch - @whignewtons
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Welcome to left, right and center, everybody. I'm David Green. The economy, the war in Iran, ICE enforcement, they've been political center stage heading into the midterms. But now back into the spotlight, abortion. Last week, a federal appeals court blocked nationwide access to an abortion medication that is sent through the mail. |
| 0:22.0 | Pills can be prescribed through telemedicine and they account for over 60% of all abortions in the |
| 0:27.5 | United States. Louisiana said that system got around its own near total abortion ban and |
| 0:34.0 | the appellate court justices agreed. Then the Supreme Court stepped in to restore access, |
| 0:39.6 | but only temporarily until Monday when the high court might decide how to proceed. Now, some politicians |
| 0:46.1 | on both sides of the aisle are pursing their lips, I would say, figuring out what to say and how |
| 0:51.5 | the position they take could affect their chances in this fall's midterms. |
| 0:55.3 | Sarah Isker is here on the right. |
| 0:56.7 | Moa Lathie is here on the left. |
| 0:58.5 | And this is where I would like to start. |
| 1:01.4 | Sarah, when it involves the Supreme Court, I love turning to you first since you have, |
| 1:06.4 | since you know it well and have a new book about it. |
| 1:08.9 | But so we've got this abortion pill called Mitha Pristone. |
| 1:12.5 | It was first available in the mail in 2021. The FDA lifted the rule that said it could only be prescribed in person. |
| 1:20.7 | The court might be tackling this rule or could be more procedural. I mean, what is the Supreme Court actually might they be deciding in the coming days? |
| 1:29.5 | So this question actually came up to the Supreme Court two years ago, and they unanimously threw that case out. |
| 1:36.5 | So if anyone's feeling like, wait, didn't we already do this with Mipipristone? |
| 1:39.9 | Deja Blue, yeah. |
| 1:40.9 | We did. But that case came from the state of Texas where doctors had filed a lawsuit against the FDA, claiming that they hadn't gone through the proper process in changing the rule to allow the in the mail prescriptions. |
| 1:56.9 | As you know, David, before then and since then, there have been more abortions under Donald |
| 2:04.3 | Trump and post-Dobbs than there were pre-Dobs, largely because of this drug, as you note. |
| 2:11.2 | So for those who want to ban abortion, they have realized that they've really got to go after |
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