Dear John,
Tuesday's election results confirm what feminists already knew: abortion isn’t just popular—it wins elections.
In Ohio on Tuesday, a majority of voters moved to enshrine the right to abortion in the state’s constitution, with nearly 57 percent voting to approve Issue 1. This victory, which follows a number of other states also approving similar measures, and striking down anti-abortion ones, comes despite a formidable Republican effort to undermine the measure. Most recently, a Republican elections board altered the ballot measure language from what appears in the actual amendment, including substituting the phrase “unborn child” for “fetus.”
Meanwhile in Virginia, Democrats captured majorities in both houses of the state legislature—managing not only to hold on to their senate majority, but retaking the House. Having control across both chambers will give them the power to stop Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s conservative agenda—which includes a proposed 15-week abortion ban, rescinding the state's ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment, and a number of proposals restricting the rights of trans youth.
Other states where abortion was an issue in the campaigns also saw significant victories. In Kentucky, Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear was reelected in an election against anti-abortion Republican challenger Daniel Cameron. And in Pennsylvania, Daniel McCaffery won a seat on the state’s supreme court over anti-abortion opponent Carolyn Carluccio.
This support for pro-abortion rights candidates and the Ohio ballot measure confirms what we already knew based on our polling in September. Per our poll, nearly three-quarters of voters support peoples’ rights to make their own reproductive health decisions without government interference—including when it comes to abortion. The 2024 general elections will be a referendum on abortion and women’s rights. As many as seven states are likely to have measures on their ballots that will impact abortion rights.
Abortion wins elections. Hopefully, this election’s results will spur other states where citizen initiatives are permitted to follow in Ohio’s footsteps and move to secure abortion rights in their state constitutions. The people are making their voices heard—and they support the right to abortion.
We also remain focused on the current fight over funding for childcare being waged in Congress. “If we don't act soon, the childcare crisis is going to keep getting worse—and it will continue hurting our economy in the process,” said Sen. Patty Murray in a statement. Stay tuned—we’ll be following this closely in the week ahead. And we'll be reporting on the Supreme Court's oral arguments in the Rahimi case, which could dramatically impact laws around gun violence by domestic violence offenders.
Onward,
