The Underreported Legacy of Bob Dole: He Was First to Weaponize Abortion Rights for Political Gain

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Senator Bob Dole died yesterday and his passing has come with a refreshing amount of bipartisan adulation and respect.

Political figures that ranged from Joe Biden to Newt Gingrich and media figures Joe Scarborough to Joy Behar have all publicly lauded Dole’s historic role as a leader in the Republican party, though for a variety of reasons. Lost in the (mostly-deserved) hagiography, however, is the seminal role the former Erectile Dysfunction pitch man played in weaponizing abortion rights for political gain.

The year was 1974 and then-Republican candidate Dole found himself at the wrong end of polling numbers against Democratic candidate, Topeka gynecologist Dr. Bill Roy.  The two found themselves in a Lincoln-Douglass formatted debate during the Kansas State Fair in Hutchinson, Kansas, which by the way, was attended by my esteemed and loving mother.

According to a Tampa Bay Times interview with Dr. Roy in 2005, the Democratic candidate felt he was in a great spot. Until Dole played the abortion card.

“I pretty well demolished him, I think,” Roy says, still savoring his strong performance of 22 years ago. “Well, at least for the first 28 minutes.”

Then Dole posed a stunning final question, asking the obstetrician why he performed abortions.

This time it was Roy’s turn to stammer.

Sitting now in his spacious Topeka living room on a warm summer day in 1996, Roy’s memory blurs. “I don’t have any idea what I said in the closing statement.”

But what Dole said was unforgettable: “You heard him, he’s for abortion on demand.”

Of course, we all know how the 1974 race turned out: Dole won a second term and served as a US Senator from Kansas until 1996 when he ran for the White House and lost.

As my mother, former Deputy Mayor of Hutchinson Doby Hall explained, Dole dropped attack leaflets against Dr. Roy over abortion the weekend before the election, and he won. From that victory, he went on to serve many terms all the way up to his run for the highest office in 1996.

“There is no such thing as abortion on demand, but that has been the rallying cry ever since,” my mother texted me. “That makes the medical staff look like puppets.”

Abortion rights became a wedge issue that has served the political ambitions of both sides of the aisle from then on. Many Republicans have curried the favor of the Pro-Life side, which fear of overturning Roe v. Wade has helped sway many elections for Democrats.

Was Dole the only politician to run on abortion rights vs. the sanctity of life? Certainly not. But his turn to this issue to change the polls was notable, and almost certainly a progenitor for future campaigns.

Dole’s lasting legacy is a rapier wit and willingness to not only work with political figures on the opposite side of the aisle but a steadfast refusal to dig up political dirt against his presidential opponent in his 1996 race against President Bill Clinton.

Dole served his country with honor and dignity, both in the military and politics. He also had a much bigger impact on how future political races would be run, for better or worse.

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.