Why women’s rights could be the biggest battleground at the US election
| Updated:
Republicans and the Democrats have very different positions on abortion, the issue at the heart of the women's rights debate in the presidential election.
Listen to this article
In brief...
- Abortion has been at the heart of debates on women's rights in the run up to the presidential election.
- The Democrats are strongly in favour of legal access and want to restore Roe V Wade. Republicans like Donald Trump and JD Vance want it outlawed.
- This could work in the Democrats' favour when voters cast their ballots given higher voter turnout in females, say The News Agents.
What’s the story?
One in three American women don’t have access to abortion.
“Get your head around that,” Emily says.
Women’s rights are and will continue to be a key topic in this year's US presidential election.
And as women are turning out to vote in higher numbers than men, it is important that both Democrats and Republicans appeal to female voters.
There’s a lot to play for, as a change of hands in the election could also mean a significant turning point for women in the US.
It comes after many were denied the reproductive rights they once had access to when the Supreme Court overturned Roe V Wade.These rights are at the heart of the debate, but the Republicans and the Democrats have very different positions on the matter.
What’s the background?
In 2022 the Supreme Court overturned Roe V Wade - the 1973 legal case that gave women the automatic right to an abortion across the US, significantly changing women’s rights to make decisions about their own body.
The overturning of Roe V Wade was a motion passed by the Republican-majority Supreme Court. Three of the justices appointed by Trump backed the motion in the court’s 6-3 Republican majority.Since then, a host of Republican states have outlawed abortions, resulting in one in three women not having legal access to abortions in their states
Where do Republicans stand on women’s rights?
The two main figureheads in the Republican Party stand firmly against abortion.
Former President Trump has said he has “no regrets” about the Supreme Court overturning Roe V Wade.
In April this year, he said: "My view is now that we have abortion where everybody wanted it from a legal standpoint; the states will determine by vote or legislation, or perhaps both” adding "you must follow your heart or in many cases, your religion or your faith."
In 2022, Trump’s running mate JD Vance said he would “like abortion to be illegal nationally”.
The Ohio Senator called for a “federal response” to block women from traveling to states where abortions are still legal for the procedure.
And the pair’s attitude towards women extends beyond reproductive rights.
He’s got “a long history of making disobliging remarks about women”, Jon Sopel points out.
For instance, he said that all the women on The Apprentice “flirted with him”, that Hillary Clinton “can’t satisfy her husband”, and of course there was his infamous “grab em by the p****” comment, to name a few.
Vance’s history of misogyny isn’t much better. In a 2021 interview he said that the Democrat party is being led by “childess cat ladies”, which he’s since claimed was just a “sarcastic remark”.
Vance said in the original interview: "We're effectively run in this country, via the Democrats, via our corporate oligarchs, by a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they've made, and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable too."
Where do the Democrats stand?
The Democrats stand firmly against banning abortions.
Harris has vowed to adhere to a pledge from Joe Biden’s campaign to “restore reproductive freedom” - specifically aiming to restore Roe v Wade.
She took aim at Trump in a speech on Wednesday night for his lack of regret on the Supreme Court’s ruling.
She said: “We will make sure he does face a consequence and that will be at the ballot box in November.”
“They want to remind them at every turn that they are the party for the women and the Republicans are the party against the women”, says Emily Maitlis.
The long list of female speakers at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago is “underpinning” this as one of the key themes of the event, she notes.
This includes Harris, Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Jon says: “Again, it is the women playing this central role in the Democratic Party. You could ask, who are the women that are playing that role in the Republican Party?”
The News Agents take
Jon says the Democrat’s stance helps them in “many different ways” while the Republicans’ hinders theirs.
“You've got Donald Trump, who's got a long history of making disobliging remarks about women.
“Then you've got JD Vance, who's got these really odd views about family.”
But their views are not necessarily representative of all Republicans.
Jon notes: “The issue of reproductive rights, or a woman's right to choose, is on the ballot, as it has been in rock solid Republican Kansas, as it has been in Ohio, as it has been in Kentucky.”
In July, Kansas’ Supreme Court struck down two anti-abortion laws, strengthening women’s reproductive rights in the state.
In Ohio, a 2019 ban on almost all abortions was overturned following a referendum.
“Women have turned out to vote, and they have voted for a woman's right to choose. They do not want the overturning of Roe versus Wade. And so come November, in the election, there are propositions that are going to be on the ballot paper, because the ballot paper is not just about who's the president.”
From North Carolina to Arizona and Florida, there are going to be votes on abortion rights, Jon notes.
He adds: “Now the Democrats are starting to eye bits of the map where they could win that had hitherto seemed impossible.
“And that is because of this issue [abortion rights], and Donald Trump's stance on it, and JD Vance's stance on it. And I think the Democrats believe they can capitalise here.”
Listen in full on The News Agents.
