Both presidential campaigns see abortion as an issue to mobilize supporters

WASHINGTON — Abortion access, in vitro fertilization treatments and overall women’s reproductive health issues are at the forefront of this year’s presidential race, as both campaigns are using the U.S. Supreme Court’s repeal of federal abortion rights to motivate supporters.

Two years after the Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade decision, Republican nominee and former President Donald Trump has touted his appointment of three of the justices who struck down federal abortion protections, and he has maintained that abortion access should be left to state legislatures.

Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris has vowed that if elected president, she would work with Congress to enshrine federal abortion protections into law, and has argued that abortion restrictions passed by Republican state legislatures in more than a dozen states since 2022 have denied many women access to necessary emergency care.

In the first presidential election since Roe v. Wade was overturned, political analysts contend abortion remains a critical mobilizing force on both sides.

"Whether it's abortion, or the threat of losing access to reproductive technologies like IVF, this is something that hits home in a very real way for women," said Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women in Politics at Rutgers University.

Here's how the issue of abortion is shaping the race.

Trump stands by court reversal

Trump became a hero to conservative and evangelical voters when he ran for president in 2016 on a pledge to appoint Supreme Court justices willing to overturn the 1973 Roe decision.

Trump described himself in 1999 as "strongly pro-choice," but his position has evolved. On the campaign trail, he often heralds his appointment of conservative justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, saying their decision to reverse Roe was led by "genius and heart and strength."

While championing the court’s decision, he has delivered mixed messages on the issue of access — arguing that it should be decided by states but also criticizing Florida’s six-week abortion ban as too restrictive.

In February, after Alabama's state supreme court ruled that frozen embryos should be afforded the same legal protections as children, Trump encouraged the Republican-led state legislature to pass a law essentially invalidating the court ruling. The move came as state IVF providers suspended services over concerns they would be held criminally liable for violating the state's abortion ban if they discarded embryos with genetic abnormalities or those that had been damaged.

Trump since has proposed having IVF treatments either paid for by the federal government or mandating health insurance providers pay for the costly treatments. Harris, who supports access to IVF treatments but has not specified if she would support such a plan, has argued that Trump is to blame for the uncertainty surrounding IVF treatments in the wake of the Roe reversal, calling him the "architect of this entire crisis."

Trump on social media has said he would veto a national abortion ban if one were to pass in Congress. His pledge came after months of dodging the question by insisting there was little chance a federal abortion ban would pass.

Joshua Wilson, a professor of political science at the University of Denver who has written books about the politics of abortion, told Newsday that "Trump’s scattered policy statements on abortion as of late are a clear illustration of the GOP’s larger problems in finding a language" on the issue that appeals to a broad base of voters.

"They have not found a way to navigate between these voters who do care about abortion, and many of whom would be in favor of continued action, and the other side of the equation — the clear majority of U.S. voters who never wanted to see Roe overturned," Wilson said in an email.

An AP-NORC poll released in June found that 61% of adults surveyed supported states allowing abortion for any reason, up from 49% in June 2021, before the Supreme Court decision.

Harris focuses on abortion access

Harris has become the Biden-Harris administration’s leading messenger on abortion access, traveling the country to denounce state bans.

Harris also has used the issue to propel her campaign messaging, most recently appearing on the popular podcast "Call Her Daddy," which has a large young female audience.

She took aim at Trump, saying: "This is the same guy that said women should be punished for having abortions," referring to comments Trump made in a March 2016 MSNBC town hall. Trump later clarified and said abortion providers should be punished for violating an abortion ban.

With polls showing abortion access as one of the top three issues for female voters, Harris’ appearance on the podcast underscored her efforts to directly reach women voters, particularly suburban women. Female suburban voters were part of Trump’s winning equation in 2016, but Biden won a majority of their support in 2020.

A New York Times/Siena College poll released in August found that for women younger than 45, abortion ranks as the top issue in this election.

Harris has released campaign ads focusing on abortion, including turning an exchange between her and Trump at their Sept. 10 debate into a TV ad.

"You want to talk about this is what people wanted?" Harris said after Trump said a broad section of people wanted states to decide on abortion access. "Pregnant women who want to carry a pregnancy to term suffering from a miscarriage, being denied care in an emergency room because the health care providers are afraid they might go to jail and she's bleeding out in a car in the parking lot? She didn't want that."

Since 2022, more than 100 pregnant women in need of emergency care who sought help from emergency rooms were turned away or denied necessary care that put their health in jeopardy and that of their fetus, according to an August analysis by The Associated Press of federal hospital investigations.

Harris also has had to defend her position against Trump’s baseless claims that Democrats endorse abortion in the "ninth month" and after birth, which is illegal.

"Come on," Harris said during the September debate, when Trump argued that she would allow abortions in the eighth and ninth months. Harris has said she supports the guidelines in Roe v. Wade that protected access to an abortion up until the time of fetal viability, or about 24 weeks, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Late-term abortions, those conducted after 21 weeks of pregnancy, account for less than 1% of abortions nationwide, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The majority of abortions — 93.5% — occur in the first trimester, and about 6% happen in the second trimester, according to the most recent available federal data.

Abortion on the ballot

Aside from the presidential race, voters in 10 states, including New York, will vote on state referendums seeking to enshrine abortion protections.

In New York, Proposition 1 asks voters whether to expand the state’s Equal Rights Amendment by adding "sex, including sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive health care and autonomy" as protected classes. Though the amendment does not mention abortion, supporters of the plan contend it is meant to codify protections that were available under Roe v. Wade.

Republican campaign strategist Susan Del Percio, of Manhattan, said abortion long has been viewed as a mobilizing issue for women voters. But in the wake of the Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs vs. Jackson ruling, Del Percio said men are realizing abortion is "not just a women’s issue."

"It's an issue of, ‘Why would you want the government to have control over your sister, your wife, your daughter?’ ” Del Percio told Newsday.

Alyssa Cass, a Democratic campaign strategist with Slingshot Strategies in Brooklyn and chief strategist to Blueprint, a Democratic research and polling initiative focused on the presidential race, said abortion is "part of a broader discussion about protection of freedoms, and defending our fundamental rights and fundamental freedoms."

Walsh, with the Center for American Women in Politics, said with states like New York, Florida and Arizona putting the issue on the ballot, and both presidential campaigns also staking out their positions on abortion: "There is no question that this issue has been one of the top issues for voters, and for the strategy of the campaigns."

By Laura Figueroa Hernandez

laura.figueroa@newsday.com@Laura_Figueroa

Laura Figueroa Hernandez is the White House correspondent and previously covered New York City politics and government. She joined Newsday in 2012 after covering state and local politics for The Miami Herald.