Republicans, you won the Roe fight. But are you trying to lose the political battle on abortion?

Some Republicans, including here in Texas, appear determined to snatch defeat from the jaws of their long-sought victory on abortion.

They seem to have confused a courtroom win on Roe vs. Wade with a complete political triumph. In Texas, GOP legislators have already made performing almost any abortion a crime. Now, they’re talking about aggressive new policies, such as trying to police women leaving the state to terminate a pregnancy or punishing employers who help their workers with such travel.

The case of a 10-year-old Ohio girl who went to Indiana to end a pregnancy has tied some anti-abortion activists in knots, too. Ohio, like Texas, makes no exception to its abortion ban for rape or incest, and activists have struggled to explain why such a young victim should be forced to bear a child.

It took 50 years for the conservative legal movement to win repeal of Roe vs. Wade. In that time, anti-abortion activists made impressive strides in convincing many Americans that abortion is wrong.

But the purest form of their argument, that almost no abortion is acceptable, is far from a majority position. And the Supreme Court victory seems to have dulled the political senses of many, especially in Texas.

For years, candidates and policymakers could talk and even act as tough on abortion as they could muster. After all, with the Roe ruling in place, it was all theoretical. Texas gradually tightened access to abortion, requiring parental notification and consent, regulating clinics and banning the procedure after 20 weeks.

But now, they face political exposure. Public opinion consistently shows that Americans and Texans prefer some level of abortion access for women. Whether enough would base their votes on it is yet to be seen, but the conditions are there.

On abortion, as on many issues, those active in politics have moved to extremes, always trying to outdo the other guy in a primary race. That’s how many Republicans have gone from opposing abortion except in cases of rape, incest or risk to the woman’s life to near-abolitionist fervor. And it’s how many Democrats have replaced “safe, legal and rare” with “shout your abortion.”

Tens of millions of voters in the middle don’t care for either position. For all of our blathering about strangers on social media, Americans have made “live and let live” a cherished principle. How will voters react to policies that become more intrusive in private business in the name of eradicating abortion? How could the state even try to keep women from traveling to other states to seek the procedure — highway roadblocks and airport checkpoints?

Probably not, but plenty of people who want to limit abortions could get squeamish at other efforts, such as dragging companies to court to get at business-travel records or peeking at mail boxes, electronic and traditional, in search of someone who obtained abortion-inducing medication.

The Ohio story points up a bigger vulnerability. The principle that all life must be protected is noble, but the idea of putting a 10-year-old through pregnancy and delivery goes too far for all but the most fervent anti-abortion believers.

The case became a focal point when an Indianapolis newspaper reported it and other news outlets repeated it. It didn’t help that the news coverage was awful — the original report casually mentioned it, based on one doctor’s vague information, with no apparent effort to pursue details.

Few who spread it across the internet bothered to add much, prompting some to question whether the girl existed at all and if so, whether anyone was trying to catch the rapist. A 27-year-old has finally been charged — and he’s in the country illegally, another unusual complicating layer.

Few abortions are the result of rape and incest, and mercifully, even fewer of those are among the youngest victims. It’s hard to legislate based on rare cases, but in politics, they have power — and if enough rape victims come forward with heartbreaking stories, there will be pressure to moderate even in places like Texas.

Would it have much effect? Even in districts drawn heavily for one party, there are many voters who aren’t at the extremes. But most aren’t motivated by single issues, and abortion is a top concern for few.

But then, they haven’t seen neighbors hauled to court because they helped someone get to New Mexico. They haven’t seen “business-friendly” Texas threaten legal action over employee benefits.

And they haven’t seen 10-year-olds forced to bear children. It’s a new era in more ways than one.