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Abortion Rights Won’t Fade in 2024 Election

November 9, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 7 Comments

Abortion rights supporters celebrate Issue 1 passing in Ohio on Nov. 7.
Abortion rights supporters celebrate Issue 1 passing in Ohio on Nov. 7, 2023. (Megan Jelinger/AFP via Getty Images)

By Nicole Huberfeld and Linda C. McClain

Abortion rights advocates won major victories in several state elections on Nov. 7, 2023, signaling that abortion laws are likely to continue to play an important role in the 2024 elections.

In Ohio, the only state where abortion was directly on the ballot, more than 56% of voters in the conservative-leaning state approved a measure called Issue 1.




This constitutional amendment protects people’s right to have an abortion in Ohio, as well as to get contraception and receive treatment for fertility issues and miscarriages.

Virginia Democrats, who campaigned on preserving abortion rights, maintained control of the state Senate and took control of Virginia’s House of Delegates from Republicans. While abortion is legal in Virginia until the 26th week of pregnancy, Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin has said he wanted the legislature to enact a ban on abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

And in Kentucky, Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, won reelection. During his campaign, Beshear promised to protect abortion rights and highlighted Republican opponent Daniel Cameron’s support for Kentucky’s near-total ban on abortion.

We are scholars of law, gender and health and co-direct Boston University’s Program on Reproductive Justice.




We wrote last year that new constitutional amendments protecting a right to abortion in states usually considered “red,” like Kansas, were not flukes. Rather, such wins, which have happened in six other states since 2022, affirm a broader trend. The majority of U.S. voters support laws protecting access to abortion and other reproductive care.

Here are three important things to know about the election results.

A woman closes her eyes and appears to be crying, surrounded by other people.
Abortion rights supporters in Columbus, Ohio, celebrate winning the right to enshrine abortion in the state’s constitution.
Megan Jelinger/AFP via Getty Images

1. Votes amending state constitutions are key to protecting abortion rights

Ohio voted for former President Donald Trump in 2016 and in 2020. In recent years, it has been considered a toss-up state that is turning “red.”

In the days leading up to the 2023 election, some conservative commentators observed that “anti-abortion groups are banking on Ohio to end the movement’s run of state-level losses and create a blueprint for battles in 2024 and beyond.”

Instead, most Democratic and independent voters, and some Republican voters, cast their ballots in favor of Issue 1, rejecting Ohio’s law that bans abortion after six weeks.

This followed on the heels of a recent high-profile case in which a 10-year-old Ohio girl had to travel to Indiana to have an abortion after she was raped and could not have the procedure in Ohio. Notably, physicians vocally opposed Ohio’s restrictive laws.

This new constitutional amendment means that Ohio’s 2019 law that prohibited abortion as soon as fetal cardiac activity could be detected – as early as six weeks into pregnancy – will not be allowed to take effect. A lower state court stopped enforcement of the six-week ban, but the case was making its way to the Ohio Supreme Court, whose seven members are mostly Republicans that have publicly opposed abortion rights.




Now, the Republican-controlled Ohio legislature does not have the power to amend or stop the new constitutional amendment or to enforce the six-week ban.

Lawmakers may still campaign to repeal Issue 1, but this change would require voters to first approve a different ballot initiative.

While state constitutions are amended much more frequently than the U.S. Constitution, a majority of voters in Ohio showed they support abortion rights, so another ballot measure seems unlikely.

2. Reframing abortion restrictions does not fool voters

In Virginia, Democratic candidates campaigned on preserving abortion rights, while Republican candidates charged Democrats with being obsessed with abortion.

Some Republican candidates also denied that they supported an abortion ban. Instead, they attempted to describe Youngkin’s proposed 15-week ban as “legislation that reflects compassionate common sense.”

The election results suggest that a majority of Virginia voters effectively rejected this proposed ban on abortion after 15 weeks.

Instead, they elected Democratic candidates who pledged to protect abortion rights in the one Southern state that had not enacted new restrictive abortion laws since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.

With Democrats controlling both legislative chambers in Virginia, new bills will stall, and the legislative majority can counter other restrictive measures that are proposed.

Andy Beshear stands in a dark blue suit at a podium that has his name on it, surrounded by three women on a stage.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, who campaigned on abortion rights, delivered his victory speech on Nov. 7, 2023.
Stephen Cohen/Getty Images

3. Abortion rights matter up and down the ballot

Beshear placed abortion at the center of his campaign for governor in Kentucky, even though the state has a near-total ban on all abortions and does not have any exceptions for cases of incest or rape.

His win, as well as the Pennsylvania Supreme Court election that resulted in one more Democrat joining the court and creating a majority, suggests that highlighting abortion rights in election campaigns can be an effective way to draw in voters.

While Kentucky voters said the economy is a top issue for them, they have also said abortion and other basic rights are important, too.

Beshear’s campaign ran an unusual advertisement featuring Hadley Duvall, a Kentucky resident who was raped by her stepfather at age 12. She became pregnant but later miscarried. Duvall, now 20 years old, appeared in the television advertisement and challenged Cameron’s support for Kentucky’s law, which allows an abortion only in order to save the life of a pregnant woman – while instructing doctors to try to save the fetus, too.

The ad resonated with voters, even in a state that now has no abortion clinics.




Beshear’s reelection shows that politicians can effectively push for laws that walk back from near-total abortion bans, such as making exceptions in cases of rape or incest. In 2022, Kentucky voters already rejected a state constitutional amendment that would have prevented recognizing a right to abortion in the state.

These different state elections point in one clear direction.

Abortion increasingly matters to voters. And most voters do not want laws severely restricting abortion and other kinds of reproductive health care.

The 2023 election outcomes also suggest that Democratic candidates can effectively use abortion as a campaign issue. This will be critical for the general elections in 2024.

Nicole Huberfeld is Professor of Health Law and Professor of Law at Boston University. Linda C. McClain is Professor of Law at Boston University.

The Conversation arose out of deep-seated concerns for the fading quality of our public discourse and recognition of the vital role that academic experts could play in the public arena. Information has always been essential to democracy. It’s a societal good, like clean water. But many now find it difficult to put their trust in the media and experts who have spent years researching a topic. Instead, they listen to those who have the loudest voices. Those uninformed views are amplified by social media networks that reward those who spark outrage instead of insight or thoughtful discussion. The Conversation seeks to be part of the solution to this problem, to raise up the voices of true experts and to make their knowledge available to everyone. The Conversation publishes nightly at 9 p.m. on FlaglerLive.
See the Full Conversation Archives
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Atwp says

    November 10, 2023 at 5:06 am

    Abortion is a winning ticket for the Democratic now. We will see what happens next year. My question is why do caucasion men always try to ruin other peoples lives? Just look at the history of this country. They try to tell a woman what to do with their bodies is crazy. If she want an abortion let her have an abortion. Are abortions right, probably not but it is her choice. These men want to take away the choice of other people but keep their choice. What hypocrites. The trail of tears, the lynchings, forced sterilizations, denying Black Farmers government monies to properly farm their land. If I didn’t know any better, I would say caucasion men are demons straight from hell.I know that isn’t true. They are probably a different brand of human beings. Are they humans? That is a good question.

  2. Laurel says

    November 10, 2023 at 10:43 am

    So, does Atwp stand for “at white people?” In my opinion, you are just as bad as the Imperial Wizard newsletter. Same kind of thinking. If you believe that only one kind of skin tone can be cruel or evil, you are seriously kidding yourself.

  3. Laurel says

    November 10, 2023 at 10:46 am

    Government needs to stay out of people’s personal body business. This oppression needs to stop. Now, Americans no longer trust the Republicans, because they know the next step, no matter what the far right claims, is to banish birth control. This is a concerted effort to control women.

  4. And says

    November 10, 2023 at 11:51 am

    …and it is sperm that is the spark that creates life.

  5. KES says

    November 10, 2023 at 2:41 pm

    So many smiles, so many celebrating, yet not one shedding a tear for the destruction of life; a baby. Proverbs 24:11 & 12.

  6. Skibum says

    November 10, 2023 at 5:20 pm

    Just the other day I and other relatives signed a friend’s petition to put abortion rights on the FL ballot. I am fed up with all of the GOP bans of books, what you can say, what you can learn in this state’s schools and colleges, and their obsession over what people do in their own bedrooms and most recently the GOP bathroom police. They want to be inside peoples’ minds, inside peoples’ underwear. The GOP mob that is rules by MAGA mush brains and “moms for liberty whackos are a vile, sick bunch of idiots!

  7. And says

    November 11, 2023 at 1:41 pm

    Do you shed a tear every time a man ejaculates & lets life die? Or is it just when the sperm reaches an egg no matter how it got there?

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