Attitudes on abortion are deeply entrenched and have motivated voters across the American political landscape for decades. But in a post-Roe world, with abortion access sharply limited or at stake in several states, voters who want to protect abortion rights are increasingly energised.

Although the economy remains the No. 1 issue for voters, a growing share of voters in swing states now say abortion is central to their decision this fall, according to New York Times/Siena College polls earlier this month. This represents an increase since May, when President Joe Biden was still the Democratic presidential nominee. And by a wide margin, more say they trust Vice-President Kamala Harris over former President Donald J. Trump to handle abortion.

Trump has repeatedly changed his position on the issue, despite appointing Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 case that found a constitutional right to abortion.

On Thursday, he even suggested that he might support a Florida ballot measure that would expand abortion rights — which he and his campaign quickly tried to walk back. But his shifting stance may reflect hope among Democrats, and concern among Republicans, that backlash to abortion restrictions may drive voters to the polls. That may be especially the case for women — particularly now that Kamala Harris is at the top of the Democratic ticket.

For women younger than 45, abortion has overtaken the economy as the single most important issue to their vote. “I think any woman should be able to access an abortion if they need it,” said Audrey Herman, 19, who plans to vote for the first time this year. “It’s the No. 1 reason why I feel so strongly about getting Kamala into the White House.”

Herman, a student at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, said this issue had motivated her ever since 2022, when the Supreme Court overturned Roe.

A large share of voters say they trust Harris more on the issue, which she championed while in office. Her 20 percentage point advantage over Trump on the issue is double the advantage Biden had when he was the party’s nominee.

Harris — the first non-white woman to run as a major-party presidential candidate — has also been able to build support on the abortion issue with some of the key Democratic-leaning constituencies with whom President Biden was weak: young voters, Black voters and Latino voters. Among Hispanic voters, Harris now holds a 30 percentage point advantage over Trump in who would better handle abortion issues; Biden had an advantage of only 12 percentage points.

“I wish Biden had done a little bit more,” Krystin Martinez, a teacher in Saginaw County, Michigan. “But beggars can’t be choosers, and I was happy he was pro-choice.”

New York Times News Service