If GOP doesn't listen to Nancy Mace on abortion, the party can count on losing big in 2024

South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace seems to understand some things that many others in her Republican Party are missing.

On issues like abortion and guns, compromise is going to be necessary – or the GOP will lose the support of all but its most devout proponents. And that is not a recipe for winning elections.

Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year, Mace has advocated a “middle ground” approach to abortion rights, warning that extreme anti-abortion views allowing for few if any exceptions aren’t compassionate toward women and will alienate moderate conservatives and independent voters. The majority of Americans now support legal abortion in most cases, according to polls.

Voters supported abortion rights: Here's what anti-abortion leaders should learn from it

“The middle, the independent voters, right of center, left of center, they cannot support us,” Mace said on a Sunday TV show.

Court battle renews focus on abortion

The midterm elections made it clear that voters were motivated on the issue of abortion, and many Republicans weren’t ready with a message that resonated – if they had one at all.

Even former President Donald Trump has pointed out that the GOP fell short on the issue. While he was likely trying to take the heat away from his own role in the party’s losses, he has a good point.

Come on, Republicans: Our midterm losses are the final straw. Dump Trump now.

And now the legal battle over access to frequently used abortion pill mifepristone has brought fresh attention to the matter. After a federal judge in Texas halted Food and Drug Administration approval of the drug this month, the case has moved quickly through the courts.

The debate over this pill is a big deal, because more than half of abortions in the United States are medication abortions. Mifepristone is used in conjunction with misoprostol, which can also be used on its own. The two drugs are also used to treat miscarriages.

The Supreme Court is expected Wednesday to make a decision about whether to uphold an appeals court’s restrictions on the drug. Last week, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with the Biden administration that FDA approval of mifepristone could continue, but it allowed other restrictions on the drug’s access to stand.

A plea for 'common sense'

The judge’s decision sparked outrage from Democrats, including New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who said the Biden administration should simply ignore the ruling. Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon echoed the sentiment.

Mace joined in shortly thereafter, saying she agreed with “ignoring it at this point.”

AOC responds to abortion pill ruling: AOC says abortion pill ruling is ‘a mockery of our democracy.’ She's the one mocking it.

As I wrote previously about Ocasio-Cortez and Wyden, Mace took things too far by making the argument that the executive branch can simply ignore the judicial branch when it doesn't like a court decision. The ruling needs to play out in the courts, and it is.

Her broader point is worthy of consideration, however.

Opinion alerts: Get columns from your favorite columnists + expert analysis on top issues, delivered straight to your device through the USA TODAY app. Don't have the app? Download it for free from your app store.

“This is an issue that Republicans have been largely on the wrong side of,” Mace told CNN after the Texas judge's decision. “We have, over the last nine months, not shown compassion toward women, and this is one of those issues that I’ve tried to lead on as someone who’s pro-life and just have some common sense.”

Political decisions on issues as impactful as abortion shouldn’t be based solely on polls. Yet conservatives have to realize that imposing too much change at once on citizens will backfire on them.

Politicians and groups opposed to abortion should listen to voices like Mace and fine-tune a strategy going into 2024 that is reasonable and won’t create a backlash that could hurt the GOP for years to come.

Ingrid Jacques is a columnist at USA TODAY. Contact her at ijacques@usatoday.com or on Twitter: @Ingrid_Jacques 

You can read diverse opinions from our Board of Contributors and other writers on the Opinion front page, on Twitter @usatodayopinion and in our daily Opinion newsletter. To respond to a column, submit a comment to letters@usatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Nancy Mace is right: GOP's 'extreme' abortion stance will cost them