Americans Want to Preserve or Restore Roe-like Protections
Introduction
Justice Samuel Alito challenged voters to decide the future of abortion when he wrote the U.S. Supreme Court opinion overturning Roe v. Wade last year. “We do not pretend to know how our political system or society will respond,” he noted as he threw out half a century of precedent. Now, 17 months later, the court has an answer: Americans want to preserve or restore Roe-like protections. In contest after contest, including a major victory in Ohio this week, voters decisively chose abortion rights over limitations — even in deep-red pockets of the country.
Support for Abortion Cuts Across Party Lines
According to a POLITICO analysis of election results from the five states that have had direct votes on abortion rights, support for abortion cuts across party lines, performing significantly better at the ballot box than Biden and other Democrats. In fact, abortion outruns Biden most in the most Republican areas. In those five states — California, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan and Ohio — every county that voted for Biden also voted for abortion rights. In the counties where Biden received less than 20 percent of the vote in 2020, the abortion-rights side has averaged 31 percent in referendums — an 11-point gap. The pattern of cross-partisan support for abortion is so strong, the analysis found, that it suggests only a small handful of states, such as Wyoming or Alabama, might be uniformly conservative enough to vote against abortion if given the opportunity.
Americans’ Life Experience
The data reflects Americans’ life experience: Nearly 1 in 4 women will have an abortion, and nearly 60 percent of abortions are among women who already have children. When the right to abortion is on the ballot, it wins. It wins in red states that voted for President Donald Trump. It wins in counties President Joe Biden lost by more than 20 points. It wins when popular Republican officials campaign for it and when they ignore it. And it wins even when the outcome has no immediate effect on abortion access.
The Importance of Abortion Rights
Abortion rights are crucial for women’s health and well-being. When women are denied access to safe and legal abortion, they are forced to seek out unsafe and illegal procedures, which can lead to serious health complications and even death. Abortion restrictions also disproportionately affect low-income women and women of color, who may not have the resources to travel to another state or country to obtain an abortion.
In addition, abortion rights are essential for gender equality. Women should have the right to make their own decisions about their bodies and their lives, without interference from the government or anyone else. Denying women the right to choose perpetuates gender inequality and reinforces harmful stereotypes about women’s roles and capabilities.
The data , thus shows that Americans want to preserve or restore Roe-like protections. Abortion rights cut across party lines and perform significantly better at the ballot box than Biden and other Democrats. Abortion rights are crucial for women’s health and well-being, as well as for gender equality. By protecting and expanding abortion rights, we can ensure that women have the freedom and autonomy to make their own decisions about their bodies and their lives.
