What 2026 and 2028 Mean for Pro-Lifers

In the last pre-election edition of National Review magazine, Charles C. W. Cooke wrote an excellent piece looking ahead to the stakes of the 2028 election, which far outstrip those of 2026 (though, as he noted, 2026 obviously sets the table for 2028’s outcomes). Central to Cooke’s 2028 fear is the Democratic desire to break the norms of our current political order: abolishing the Senate filibuster, adding D.C. and Puerto Rico as new states with four new Democratic senators, and packing the Supreme Court. It can only happen with a post-2028 Democratic trifecta in the House, Senate, and White House.

I want to talk about the policy end toward which these planned acts of norm-destruction are ordered as a means. Among the foremost goals for Democrats in 2028 is to reverse or negate Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, and to reinstate a nationwide right to abortion in federal law. Pro-lifers are stuck in the world of Dobbs and are not looking ahead to this likely, upcoming fight.