U.S. Elections and the Right to Reproductive Healthcare

November 4, 2024

This is the final publication in a three-part series on the 2024 U.S. presidential elections.

Read Parts One and Two on our website.

With the 2024 U.S. presidential election day tomorrow, we are faced with a dire possibility of an outright federal ban on abortions. This is the first election since the 2022 United States Supreme Court decision to overturn the constitutional right to abortion[1] that was earlier granted under Roe v. Wade[2]. Since then, 22 states have restricted access to abortions with stringent penalties[3]. In light of the failure to protect women’s right to their reproductive health, people have resorted to difficult and dangerous methods, such as unsafe abortions, and the lack of access to good maternal healthcare has raised maternal mortality rates. Moreover, widespread individual and community activism and advocacy has raised the crucial yet tendentious question: Should a woman’s right to choose be decided by a court or legislature?

It was recently reported that a record high of 32% of U.S. voters are inclined to vote for a candidate who shares their view on women’s abortion rights[4], including 23% who identify as pro-choice and 8% who identify as pro-life. Now, more than during the 2020 election year and two years after the Dobbs v. Jackson decision, abortion rights has emerged as a critical voting issue. Abortion access has emerged as a top election issue for women voters under the age of 30 as per the KFF Survey of Women Voters[5] released in October 2024. Furthermore, 10 states will see abortion access rights on the ballot on November 5, 2024, election day in the U.S[6]. States like Maryland, New York and Montana will have a choice on the ballot asking voters to choose whether the right to abortion should be enshrined in the state’s constitution. This follows an announcement by Former President Trump, pledging that he would not sign a federal ban on abortion and would let states decide on the matter, after taking credit for the overturning of Roe v. Wade[7]. However, there still exists a possibility of a conservative administration further restricting access to abortion in other ways. This includes restricting access to medication abortions or banning the abortion pill altogether by classifying it as shipping of “obscene, lewd, lascivious, indecent, filthy or vile” material under the Comstock Act [8]. Also, giving states the power to decide on this issue can lead to worse consequences, such as Florida’s near-total ban on abortions after a period of six weeks[9], with very narrow exceptions for cases involving rape, incest or the health of the patient. This pro-life stance appears to disregard the life of the patient itself, snatching away the choice that an individual should and would expect to rest with them.

Near-bans like these have led to people traveling to other states to access reproductive healthcare and abortion access. This also puts women from marginalized communities and from lower income backgrounds at an increased risk of resorting to backdoor access to abortions. It has also impacted the lives of doctors and healthcare workers, who could now be criminalized for their actions, if they decide to perform medically necessary life-saving abortions[10]. This threat of criminal action has led doctors and clinics to refrain from providing abortion access even in states where abortion is still legal. For instance, a recent experience shared by a Florida obstetrician-gynecologist highlighted the scary reality of this near-ban, where they had to wait for a patient with kidney issues to get sicker and sicker before being able to perform a life-saving abortion[11]. A similar situation is occurring in Missouri, another state with a near-total ban with no exceptions for rape or incest, where obstetricians are sharing the heartbreaking experience of turning away people looking for abortion medications[12].

With the differing campaign narratives on abortion rights, and state candidates and ballot initiatives influencing abortions in various states, reproductive rights for women have become an issue deeper than just who wins the presidential elections. Especially with Former President Trump’s statements like, “whether women like it or not, he will protect them”[13], women’s authority and agency are under threat of being regulated without their consent. This critical issue could be a deciding factor in this election, and will pave the way for the fight for abortion rights in state legislatures and courts.

Helpful Resources

Glossary

Enshrined: preserve (a right, tradition, or idea) in a form that ensures it will be protected and respected.
Federal ban: official order prohibiting something that is enforced by the federal government.
Legislature: a body of persons having the power to legislate and make laws of a country.
Lascivious: feeling or revealing an overt and often offensive sexual desire.
Maternal mortality rate: the number of maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in a given time period. It's a measure of the risk of death related to pregnancy or childbirth.
Pro-Choice: favoring the legalization of abortion.
Pro-Life: opposed to abortion.
Reproductive health: a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being in relation to the reproductive system, its functions, and processes.
Stringent: strict, precise, and exacting.
Tendentious: expressing or intending to promote a particular cause or point of view, especially a controversial one.