Clarified: How the 2022 Midterm Election results impact abortion access
It was a victory for abortion rights activists in the five states where the question of abortion was formally on the ballot.
It was a victory for abortion rights activists in the five states where the question of abortion was formally on the ballot.
It was a victory for abortion rights activists in the five states where the question of abortion was formally on the ballot.
It was a victory for abortion rights activists in the five states where the question of access to abortion in the 2022 midterm elections.
Voters in California, Michigan and Vermont voted to add the right to an abortion in their state constitutions.
Voters in Montana and Kentucky voted against propositions that would further restrict abortion rights.
It was especially a triumph for abortion rights supporters in Michigan, with the reelection of Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Democrats taking control of both the state’s house and senate.
According to an of the KFF/Associated Press VoteCast survey published after the midterm elections, the Supreme Court’s decision to end the federal right to an abortion had an influence on voters.
According to the analysis, about four in 10 voters overall said the Supreme Court’s decision had a major impact on whether to vote in the 2022 midterm election.
Of the people who cited the Supreme Court’s decision as a major motivator were highest among Black women under the age of 50 (61%), Hispanic women under the age of 50 (58%), those who voted for Democratic Congressional candidates (56%), first-time voters (54%), voters under the age of 30 (53%) and those who said they were angry about the Supreme Court’s decision (55%).
The fight for abortion access is not over. Firmly anti-abortion Republican governors in Georgia, Florida and Texas were reelected. But in states like Pennsylvania, Kansas and Wisconsin, voters elected democratic governors, who support abortion rights.
After the Supreme Court’s decision, Wisconsin . Dr. Kristin Lyerly, a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist, lives in Wisconsin but practices in Minnesota because of the ban. The ban makes it a felony to perform an abortion at any stage of pregnancy unless to save the mother’s life.
“I felt that it was just too dangerous for me and my family, for me to be able to continue to practice here,” Lyerly said. “There’s a physician shortage across the country, I happen to hold a license in Minnesota as well. And I’ll be practicing there until this ban is eliminated.”
Lyerly said she feels hopeful after Democratic Governor Tony Evers and Attorney General Josh Kaul were reelected.
Evers has already proposed creating a process to put the issue on a in hopes of repealing the ban. Evers and Kaul also challenging the ban.
Beyond the state level, there’s been a push for a federal law on abortion from politicians on both sides.
President Biden has previously said if Democrats picked up enough seats to gain control of Congress in the 2022 midterm elections, the first piece of legislation he would send to Congress would be to enact a nationwide right to an abortion. However, on Nov. 14, Biden said Democrats to codify abortion rights into law because Democrats did not gain enough seats in the House of Representatives.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has proposed an , but it was met with even within his own party. President Biden has said he would to pass a national ban on abortion.
Abortion and the 2024 Elections
Kelly Dittmar, a political science professor and director of research and scholar at the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University, says it will be interesting to see how the topic of abortion will impact the 2024 presidential, House and Senate elections.
Dittmar says she predicts Republicans will have to reassess their strategy on addressing abortion ahead of the next election. She says there may be conflicts within the Republican Party in the future on whether or not they should have a national messaging strategy or a state-by-state messaging strategy on abortion as they campaign for the next election. Dittmar says Democrats will also have to reassess how much they want to talk about abortion access going into 2024.
Dittmar says researchers at the Center for Women and Politics will also be looking at whether the topic of abortion will mobilize women to run for office in 2024.
Overall, Dittmar says abortion was more influential in the 2022 midterm elections than some political pundits previously predicted.
“Don’t underestimate the power of angry women who are fearful that their rights are under threat,” Dittmar said. “And that is a mobilizer.”