{"id":697,"date":"2024-11-11T12:10:34","date_gmt":"2024-11-11T12:10:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.electionanalysis.ws\/us\/?page_id=697"},"modified":"2024-11-15T15:31:16","modified_gmt":"2024-11-15T15:31:16","slug":"abortion-less-important-to-voters-than-anticipated","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.electionanalysis.ws\/us\/president2024\/section-2-policy-and-political-context\/abortion-less-important-to-voters-than-anticipated\/","title":{"rendered":"Abortion: Less important to voters than anticipated"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Dr. Zo\u00eb Brigley Thompson<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Senior Lecturer in English at the Ohio State University, editor of Poetry Wales<\/em> and an editor at Seren Books. She is co-editor of Feminism, Literature, and Rape Narratives<\/em>, and author of the nonfiction essays, Notes from a Swing State<\/em>. She has three award-winning collections of poetry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Twitter: @ZoeBrigley
Email: Thompson.3022@osu.edu<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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U.S. Election 2024<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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12. The campaigns\u2019 pandemic memory hole<\/a> (Prof Michael Serazio)
13. America\u2019s kingdom of contempt<\/a> (Prof Barry Richards)
14. Americanism, not globalism 2.0: Donald Trump and America\u2019s role in the world<\/a> (Prof Jason A. Edwards)
15. The politics of uncertainty: Mediated campaign narratives about Russia\u2019s war on Ukraine<\/a> (Dr Tetyana Lokot)
16. The U.S. elections and the future of European security: Continuity or disruption?<\/a> (Dr Garret Martin)
17. Trump\u2019s victory brings us closer to the new world disorder<\/a> (Prof Roman Gerodimos)
18. Abortion: Less important to voters than anticipated<\/a> (Dr Zo\u00eb Brigley Thompson)
19. Roe your vote?<\/a> (Dr Lindsey Meeks)
20. Gender panics, far-right radicalization, and the effectiveness of anti-trans political ads<\/a> (Dr Thomas J. Billard)
21. U.S. politics and planetary crisis in 2024<\/a> (Dr Reed Kurtz)
22. Trump and Musk for all mankind<\/a> (Prof Einar Thorsen)
23. Guns and the 2024 election<\/a> (Prof Robert J. Spitzer)
24. Echoes of Trump: Potential shifts in Congress\u2019s communication culture<\/a> (Dr Annelise Russell)<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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In the context of Wade versus Roe being overturned by the Supreme Court in 2022, abortion was centered by political campaigns and the media in the 2024 election.  Ultimately though, the issue of concern for the majority of voters was not abortion but the economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The presidential race took place against a background of abortion bans in 13 states. Ten of these states have a total ban with no rape or incest exception<\/a>, and six states have no exception to save the life of the mother\/parent<\/a>. Stories in the news have highlighted cases such as, in 2022, a 10 year old victim of child abuse in Ohio<\/a> who was forced to seek an abortion in Indiana. An Associated Press investigation<\/a> found over 100 pregnant women denied medical treatment or treated negligently in the past two years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Democratic campaign<\/a> banked on Roe versus Wade galvanizing a blue wave of voters, especially women. Video ads<\/a> encouraged women to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris against their husbands\u2019 wishes, and many Democrats assumed that abortion would cinch these votes<\/a>. While there were concerns about the loss of black men voters or voters protesting the current administration\u2019s handling of Gaza, it was white women voters who proved problematic. In NBC\u2019s 2024 election exit poll<\/a>, only 45% of white women voted for Vice President Harris, and those numbers dropped to 35% of white women who had not graduated from university. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Democratic campaign failed because abortion was a top priority for only 14% of voters, with the economy dominating at 32% (CNN 2024 exit poll).<\/a> President Donald Trump unashamedly took credit<\/a> for the repeal of Roe versus Wade and employed strategic ambiguity<\/a> to present a moderate stance, emphasizing that individual states should be able to decide legislation on abortion. Vice President J.D. Vance, as a strong abortion opponent, reassured anti-abortion elements of the Republican base. President Trump focused less on abortion but on sending a message of strength to white men, 60% of whom voted for President Trump (NBC<\/a>) and to white women via supporters like Megyn Kelly who called for the \u201cold\u201d masculinity to return<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Intriguingly, Republicans voters feel more secure about abortion than in 2020, when a Pew Center poll<\/a> found that of people concerned about abortion, the majority (46%) were President Trump\u2019s supporters. In the 2024 CNN exit poll<\/a>, the majority of voters concerned about abortion were Vice President Harris supporters, suggesting that the repeal of Roe versus Wade and consequent abortion bans have activated Democratic leaning voters.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Opinion polls<\/a> consistently find that most Americans believe abortion should be legal, but there is some nuance. In the  2024 CNN exit poll<\/a>, 65% of people thought that abortion should be legal in either \u201call\u201d or \u201cmost\u201d cases. Those in favor of no limits on abortion were generally Vice President Harris voters, while people who thought abortion should be legal \u201cin most cases\u201d were a fairly even split between President Trump and Vice President Harris voters. Those who thought abortion should be illegal (in \u201cmost\u201d or \u201call\u201d cases) were dominated by President Trump voters, and it is easy to assume that he may want to cater to this base. With control of the Senate and a strong Republican showing in the House at the time of writing, President Trump has many tools at his disposal to support abortion bans around the country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The American policy on abortion also has global implications. In 2021, President Joe Biden rescinded the \u201cglobal gag rule\u201d<\/a>, limiting funds to foreign groups and those in the U.S. who provide or inform about abortions. The \u201cglobal gag\u201d rule had been reintroduced in President Trump\u2019s first term. Will we now see a return? In 2021, President Biden withdrew from the \u201cGeneva Consensus Declaration\u201d<\/a> (which asserts that there is no international right to an abortion), though he was urged to rejoin it in 2023<\/a>. The Hyde Amendment remains in effect, meaning that taxpayer money cannot be used to fund abortions except where there is rape, incest, or danger to the mother, a policy that impacts low-income women in particular. It seems unlikely that President Trump will repeal it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A strong Republican showing in the House and Senate and the re-election of President Trump may make it easier for anti-abortion laws to be passed, but on ballots across the country, voters chose to support measures to enshrine the right to an abortion in state law. Ten states put forward these measures, and of these, seven passed. The three that failed were in Nebraska, South Dakota and,\u00a0controversially<\/a>, in Florida. Most of these states already have access to abortion, but the success is especially significant in Arizona, where the limit for an abortion is currently 15 weeks, and in Missouri, which has a total abortion ban with no exceptions except for health of the mother. In\u00a0Arizona<\/a>, there is uncertainty about which laws will still stand after the constitutional measure, and Republican politicians in\u00a0Missouri<\/a> are mobilizing to find ways to evade the new provision.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dr. Zo\u00eb Brigley Thompson Senior Lecturer in English at the Ohio State University, editor of Poetry Wales and an editor at Seren Books. She is co-editor of Feminism, Literature, and Rape Narratives, and author of the nonfiction essays, Notes from a Swing State. She has three award-winning collections of poetry.  Twitter: @ZoeBrigleyEmail: Thompson.3022@osu.edu In the context of Wade versus […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":1008,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-697","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nAbortion: Less important to voters than anticipated - Election Analysis - United States<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.electionanalysis.ws\/us\/president2024\/section-2-policy-and-political-context\/abortion-less-important-to-voters-than-anticipated\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Abortion: Less important to voters than anticipated - Election Analysis - United States\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dr. Zo\u00eb Brigley Thompson Senior Lecturer in English at the Ohio State University, editor of Poetry Wales and an editor at Seren Books. 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