Could a pledge to protect reproductive rights help Kamala Harris become the first woman to win the White House?
Abortion has never been so close to the center of a US presidential election, but it is for the first time since a landmark Supreme Court ruling banned access to the procedure in much of the country.
Ten states are holding referendums on the issue, and those questions will appear on the same ballots used to cast presidential votes.
The outcome could have deep implications, with the potential to overturn restrictions affecting millions of women. But Democrats also hope that the issue will mobilize a large portion of voters in their favor.
“Usually mobilization determines the outcome of an election,” Samara Klar, a political science professor at the University of Arizona, told AFP. He said that in states where abortion was at risk, women voters helped the Democratic Party exceed expectations in 2022. Midterm.
Harris has made abortion a central theme of her campaign, repeatedly linking her opponent, former President Donald Trump, to tragic stories, such as women crossing state lines to terminate their life-threatening pregnancies. Is forced to.
“This is a health care crisis, and Donald Trump is its architect,” the vice president said at a recent campaign stop in Georgia, after it was revealed that a woman’s death was caused by a delay in medical care because of the state’s restrictive abortion law. Died.
During his tenure, Trump reshaped the Supreme Court, which overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, leaving states to decide their own abortion policies — and thereby overturning five decades of precedent protecting the procedure nationwide. Finished off.
Republicans have consistently touted his role in the decision, yet he has denied Democratic claims that he plans to impose a national ban on abortion, despite pressure from conservative scholars and activists for such an outcome. Are.
In the wake of the Roe decision, Democrats have positioned themselves as the party of reproductive rights, with polls indicating that a majority of Americans support access to abortion.
“They want to ride that wave,” Benjamin Case, an assistant professor at Arizona State University, told AFP.
Harris knows, he says, that the more people are thinking about that issue, if they get the Democrats involved with the issue, if they get them involved with the issue, it can only help her.
Women, who vote in greater numbers than men in the United States, overwhelmingly support Harris over Trump.
– Keys to Arizona? ,
The stakes are especially high in Arizona, which could easily go either way in November. President Joe Biden won the southwestern state in a landslide in 2020.
Currently, abortion is banned in Arizona after 15 weeks of pregnancy, but the citizen-led ballot measure aims to restore access until fetal viability, approximately 24 weeks.
Democrats hope that the issue will increase voter turnout and also work in their favor in the presidential election.
“When you’re talking about an incredibly close state like Arizona, anything can make a difference,” Klar said.
In five states, including New York, Colorado and the battleground state Nevada, voters will decide whether to strengthen protections for abortion, even though it is already legal in those places.
But in the other five states, the referendum could have more radical effects — overturning restrictions or extending the period during which pregnant people can access the procedure.
– No easy answer –
In Florida, the third most populous state, health care providers are currently allowed to perform abortions only up to six weeks of pregnancy – often before many women even realize they are pregnant.
“Amendment 4” aims to restore the right to abortion until a fetus is viable, a huge step forward for millions of women in the Sunshine State.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if every single vote on abortion rights passed,” said Case, who has studied such initiatives.
Since 2022, whenever the issue has been put to a direct vote, abortion rights have prevailed – even in conservative states like Kansas and Kentucky.
But the overall impact on the general election could be more “complex,” Case warned.
According to polls, the economy and immigration are still higher priorities for voters than abortion.
Being able to protect abortion rights through referendum could also “liberate” some voters – particularly those who are frustrated with the Democrats’ stance on issues like Gaza – who would then vote for the party in the race for the White House. May feel less compelled to support, he said. ,
He concluded, “I’m not convinced that this is something that Democrats can sit back and say we can relax about because the abortion vote will take us.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
