Dear John,
As November’s midterm elections get underway with early voting starting in many states, it’s becoming more and more apparent that abortion will be a deciding factor for many voters across the country. But you’d hardly know it listening to the political pundits!
According to newly released polling from Ms. and the Feminist Majority Foundation in collaboration with Lake Research Partners, abortion and women’s rights are major motivating issues for young voters in battleground states including Nevada, Arizona, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and more. It’s in these states where the control of Congress will be decided.
The poll found that over half (55 percent) of likely women voters ages 18-29 in battleground states indicated abortion and women’s rights as their top issue priority going into November. Only 33 percent indicated inflation and rising prices were a top issue, and even fewer said student debt, the climate crisis or gun violence were top issues.
So, despite constant reports in the media on inflation and rising prices as the driving issues in this election, abortion and women’s rights are actually the most important for young women as they head to the ballot box. And for women likely voters of all ages, abortion and women’s rights are tied with inflation and rising prices in determining women’s votes in battleground states.
The intensity of young women’s motivation to vote in this election is driven by their anger: Nearly half (41 percent) of young women voters are feeling "angry" and "worried" in the wake of the recent Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade. It’s likely that this fear will inform young women’s votes in particular—young women voters in battleground states support Democratic candidates over Republicans by double-digit margins in a generic congressional ballot, in stark contrast to young men who are more evenly split.
What’s more, the reversal of Roe has increased the urgency of adding the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to the U.S. Constitution. Three-quarters (74 percent) of young women in battleground states support the Equal Rights Amendment being added to the Constitution, and 72 percent additionally say it's personally important to them to support the ERA now that states are banning abortion.
“The message from women voters is clear: The Equal Rights Amendment is more important than ever, especially young women who are most affected by the Court’s decision,” said Eleanor Smeal, president of Feminist Majority Foundation (publisher of Ms.) and a long-time leader in the fight for the ERA. “Voters—especially women voters—now know that rights can be taken away and want an amendment to the U.S. Constitution guaranteeing that rights cannot be ‘denied or abridged on account of sex.'”
I hope you’ll read our reporting on the poll and help us spread the word. Women are going to make their voices heard in this election. Are you ready to join them?
