THIS IS HOW YOU GOT LATE-TERM ABORTION

Republicans are outraged because blue states are attempting to expand abortion rights.

When New York expanded abortion rights last week for the first time in 49 years, Democrats across the state were exultant. Now, that jubilation has been met with an equal and opposite reaction.

Anti-abortion advocates, from grass-roots activists all the way to the White House, are taking aim at New York, Virginia and other states in a bid to halt similar legislative efforts by emboldened Democratic lawmakers and to mobilize supporters ahead of the 2020 presidential race.

By Thursday, both President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence had leaned into the debate....

New York’s new law, passed last week, permits abortion after the 24th week of a pregnancy when there is “an absence of fetal viability, or the abortion is necessary to protect the patient’s life or health.” A bill introduced in Virginia by a Democratic state lawmaker would also have reduced restrictions on late-term abortions to protect the mother’s health, and would have decreased the number of physicians whose opinions were required to approve an abortion, to one from three. The Virginia bill was set aside in committee....

Similar bills to expand abortion rights in New Mexico and Rhode Island seem unlikely to be derailed, given the dominance of Democrats in both states’ legislatures and governor’s mansions.

Republicans blame Democrats. They blame the culture.

The only people they don't blame are themselves.

We know that Republicans are curbing abortion rights in the states they control:

... a ban on abortions after 15 weeks ... was signed by Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant, a Republican, in March. More states have moved to restrict abortion since: On May 4, Republican Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a bill banning abortions after a doctor can detect a fetal heartbeat, or as early as six weeks. The Ohio House of Representatives passed a similar bill in November....

In May, Gov. John Bel Edwards of Louisiana, a Democrat, signed a bill banning abortion after 15 weeks; it will only take effect if the Mississippi law is upheld....

On March 27, the Kentucky House of Representatives passed a bill banning dilation and evacuation, a procedure often used in second-trimester abortions, if a patient is more than about 11 weeks pregnant. The bill, signed into law by Republican Gov. Matt Bevin in April, is facing a court challenge.

And we know that an anti-abortion majority on the Supreme Court might well overturn Roe v. Wade.

Whenever Democrats do something the GOP considers extreme, Republican commentators inevitably say, "This is how you got Trump." On just the first page of Google search results for that phrase, I see that "attacking Mike Pence's Christian faith" is how we got Trump, as is harassing Sarah Huckabee Sanders at a restaurant. Also: liberals' unwillingness to date conservatives, The Atlantic's decison to fire Kevin Williamson, and -- I'm not making this up -- Google's removal of an egg from a salad emoji to make it more vegan-friendly.

Pretty much everything we do is the reason we're to blame for Trump. Why isn't this ever reversed? Maybe if red states weren't trying to restrict abortion after six weeks, blue state officials wouldn't be passing laws the right regards as opening the door to infanticide. We can extend this to other hot-button issues -- for instance, maybe we wouldn't be trying to raise taxes on the rich as high as we are if you guys weren't trying to lower them at every opportunity.

In fact, we're passing laws we believe in. We're not doing these things just to induce conservative tears. But maybe we wouldn't be prioritizing some of these issues if it weren't for you. So look in the mirror: This is how got late-term abortion.