I am willing to put stock into the article's claims that Democrats in general are turning away from abortion as a wedge issue
The Republicans are the ones who have made it a wedge issue. They make all social issues wedge issues. Their economic policies suck, so they have to rely on divisive social wedge issues.
As long as some believe in a right or wrong, some issues will always be divisive. It's not that a particular party is trying to make it divisive to meet an end. Pro-life people actually believe it's wrong to abort babies, it has nothing to do with politics.