Harris's ace: Why abortion debates become top issue in US election

Contents

• Issue background
• States that prohibit or allow abortion
• Harris, Trump, and Biden's statements on abortion

In the US elections, several major topics divide society. So both presidential candidates, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are taking them into account and using them in their campaigns. Along with the issues of migration and the state of the economy, one of them is the right to abortion.

Issue background

Political battles over abortion have been going on in the United States for more than half a century. In 1973, the US Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade overturned a Texas law that allowed abortion only to save the life of the mother and declared that women's right to abortion is protected by the US Constitution.

According to the court, a woman's decision to terminate her pregnancy is protected by the right to life. At the same time, the text of the decision introduced restrictions on abortions after the third and especially after the sixth month of pregnancy.

However, in 2022, the same Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade because the US Constitution does not mention the right to abortion, which is not deeply rooted in the history and traditions of the nation. Thus, the issue of abortion was left to the discretion of the states and Congress.

This turnaround was made possible by the fact that during his first term, Donald Trump managed to appoint three new Supreme Court justices out of nine. Due to their lifetime tenure, these judges are rarely replaced.

All three appointees have conservative views, so the US Supreme Court now has six conservatives against three liberals.

After the Supreme Court's decision, conservative states began to introduce abortion bans under pressure from conservative Christian groups. At the same time, this caused outrage, mainly among women and young people. Often, those wishing to have an abortion have to travel to another state where abortion is allowed. This is called abortion tourism.

States that prohibit or allow abortion

Abortion is restricted in most of the South and much of the Midwest. As of August 2024, 14 states have imposed an almost complete abortion ban.

These are Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia.

The states in red are those where abortion is prohibited, and those in green are those where abortion is allowed (Source: Guardian)

All of them allow abortion in cases of medical emergencies, but the wording may vary from state to state. For example, some states say that abortion is allowed to protect a woman's health, while others allow abortion only if someone's life is threatened. This creates opportunities for speculation.

Four states - Georgia, South Carolina, Florida, and Iowa - have banned abortion after six weeks of pregnancy.

Simultaneously with the presidential election, local referendums on abortion are scheduled for November 5 in six states. These are Colorado, Florida, Maryland, New York, Nevada, and South Dakota. In these states, the issue of abortion may affect turnout by encouraging Kamala Harris' supporters to come to the polls.

Harris, Trump, and Biden's statements on abortion

At the presidential debate on June 27, Donald Trump said that he supported the right of states to pass abortion laws on their own. At the same time, he noted that he did not intend to make the current laws stricter at the national level if he became president again.

Trump does not often mention the issue of abortion because it splits his electorate. On the one hand, he is criticized by radical religious conservatives for being liberal. On the other hand, Democrats, for whom Trump is the embodiment of conservatism.

Kamala Harris and Democrats in general pay more attention to the topic of abortion. The presidential candidate supports legislation that will protect the right to abortion at the national level, as was done in Roe v. Wade before the Supreme Court's decision in 2022. This is one of the issues that Harris has been working on for years, since his time in the Senate.

Current US President Joe Biden has similar positions. During the debate, he said that the federal right to abortion should be protected and promised to work to restore it.

To play along with Kamala Harris, Joe Biden initiated Supreme Court reform on July 29. He proposes to limit the term of office for judges to 18 years (currently, judges are appointed for life) and to introduce a mandatory code of ethics for judges.

At the same time, Biden also proposed to ratify the constitutional amendment limiting presidential immunity.

However, it is doubtful that such important initiatives will be implemented three months before the election and are designed more for media effect.

Sources: The Guardian, The New York Times, and public statements of American politicians.