WASHINGTON, D.C. – Ever since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, we’ve seen state legislatures, even congress focus on abortion-related bills. But when abortion is on the ballot, voters typically support abortion rights.
Next month marks two years since the Supreme Court overturned Roe which guaranteed the federal right to an abortion.
“With the Dobbs decision, they opened the floodgates for draconian and cruel bans on women’s choice all across America,” said Sen. Chuck Schumer (D- NY).
Since that 2022 decision, congressional members, mostly Democrats, have pushed to enshrine Roe into law. With a narrowly divided Senate, Democrats have come up short in their efforts.
In a post-Roe world, the issue of abortion is essentially left up to the states. But when the issue is left up to the voters, they typically support reproductive rights.
According to online resources, after Roe was overturned a handful of states left the voters to decide.
In 2022, six states had abortion related items on the ballot that year. In Montana, which is considered a mostly red state, 52 percent of voters rejected a ballot measure that would have forced medical workers to intercede in the rare case of a baby born after an attempted abortion. In Michigan, a battleground state, 56 percent of voters approved a state constitutional right to reproductive freedom. In Kansas, a deep red state, voters defeated a measure that proposed a state constitutional amendment that would have said there was no right to an abortion in the state.
With abortion measures on the ballot in a handful of states this November, political scientists said many Democrats are using this to their advantage.
“We all know they won’t stop until they’ve enacted a federal abortion ban,” said Sen. Schumer referring to Republicans. “They will not stop America until they get a federal abortion ban.”
