Abortion rights remains an animating policy issue for voters and a vulnerability for Republican candidates, Reproductive Freedom for All, a major abortion-rights advocacy organization, advised in a memo released Tuesday.
The battle over abortion rights was the defining fight during the midterm elections in 2022, which took place in the immediate aftermath of the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade. While the rising cost of living and the ongoing fallout from the war on Iran are this midterm’s dominating issues, driving the country’s key Senate and gubernatorial races as Democrats seek to topple the GOP majority in Congress, abortion rights have been more than an afterthought, the group argues.
“Reproductive freedom is not a siloed, culture war issue – and voters know that. It is deeply tied to Democrats’ closing message around affordability,” reads the memo, shared exclusively with HuffPost. “As Democrats hold Republicans accountable for soaring costs, the cost of raising a family is intrinsically part of that conversation.”
Democratic candidates across the ideological spectrum in mission-critical races are not shying away from the issue. Progressives like Maine’s Troy Jackson, for instance, has several ads taking aim at Republican incumbent Susan Collins’ stance on abortion. And similarly aligned Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic candidate for a Senate seat in Michigan, accuses Republican challenger Mike Rogers as someone who has dedicated his career to taking away the right for women to choose. More centrist Chris Pappas, New Hampshire’s Senate candidate, has accused his opponent of flip-flopping on the issue and supporting “overturning and taking away a woman’s right to choose in this country.”
The group argues that Republicans’ more restrictive stances on abortion are a third rail for independent voters, and that broadly, voters handily reject the idea of a national abortion ban.
A majority of adults, about 60%, find that abortion should be legal in most or all cases, according to data from Pew Research.
Republicans, up to and including President Donald Trump’s White House, clearly view abortion as a political vulnerability. The Washington Sun reported the administration asked the Justice Department to move slowly on issues related to abortion ahead of the election. The memo notes Republicans like Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.) have allegedly scrubbed their websites of anti-abortion positions ahead of the election.
The memo reads: “The election will determine whether the administration’s threats advance unchecked or encounter meaningful opposition in Congress and across the states. Democrats are closing the campaign by speaking to the majority: Eight in 10 Americans support legal abortion. While Democrats hone in on abortion in the final stretch, Republicans’ retreat from their own records shows they understand the political danger of their agenda.”
Beyond the battle for Congress, voters in four states ― Missouri, Idaho, Virginia and Nevada ― will also see abortion ballot measures.
The group, which has spent more than $20 million in the run-up to the election, believes voters will be driven out to the polls for Democrats in a show of force to combat any changes ― slow-walked or not.
“Reproductive freedom is an undeniable, powerful closing message for Democrats in battleground races this year,” Mini Timmaraju, president and CEO of Reproductive Freedom for All, said in a statement to HuffPost. “Democrats are using every opportunity to slam opponents on their anti-abortion records and Republicans know they are too extreme for voters. We’re making sure voters know who’s standing for their rights – and who’s against them.”