The right to abortion is an issue that may determine the outcome of the US elections. 50 percent of voters say that this will be a decisive factor in their choice of candidate. It was during Donald Trump's presidency that the abortion compromise was violated. Since then, conservative authorities in some states have begun restricting access to abortion. Democrats want to block these changes.
The issue of abortion is one of the 10 “extremely important” topics for declared voters in America. 50 percent of voters say this will be a deciding factor in their choice of candidate. Donald Trump and Kamala Harris represent two polar opposites on this issue.
– We have a very progressive candidate against a very conservative one. What we see is another proof of the enormous polarization of American politics – notes prof. Patrick Egan, a political scientist at New York University.
Abortion has divided Americans for years, but the Supreme Court's 1973 interpretation of the matter was binding for half a century. According to the Roe vs. Wade, abortion was a constitutional right and could not be prohibited.
Supreme Court judgment
In 2022, a new Supreme Court, thanks to conservative judges nominated by Donald Trump, overturned that judgment. Since then, individual states have decided on access to abortion. Those ruled by Republicans began to introduce restrictions. Democrats promise to abolish them.
– Our fight is for the future, for freedom, which is the basic freedom of a woman to decide about herself. The government cannot tell her what to do, emphasizes Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate. – Democrats are really radical in this respect because they allow abortions in the eighth and ninth months, and even after the birth of the child – says Donald Trump, the Republican candidate. Kamala Harris corrected this lie repeated by her competitor in various circumstances. “Nowhere in America is there a woman who carries a pregnancy to term and asks for an abortion. It doesn't happen. It's offensive to women,” she said.
Special participation of women
As of 2022, abortion has been completely banned in 13 states, and in over 20 states it is restricted in some way. This is what – according to various surveys – the vast majority of Americans do not like. According to the Pew Research Center, 63 percent of U.S. citizens want abortion to be legal in all or most cases.
– On this particular issue, the majority of Americans side with Kamala Harris. Many women fear that they will not be able to control their own health care decisions, says Darrell M. West of the Brookings Institute think tank.
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Perhaps that's why former first lady Melania Trump got involved. In an interview with FOX News in October, she said she was in favor of freedom of choice. – I believe in individual freedom. I want to be able to decide what I do with my body. I don't want the government to decide about my personal affairs, she said.
It was, experts say, a calculated statement. – What she's doing on his (Donald Trump's) behalf, I assume, is helping him win women's votes in a way that doesn't require him to abandon the electorate. She represents him at this point, says Sarah Fisher, a CNN analyst.
In the last presidential election, women made up more than 54 percent of the electorate. This gender gap is also evident in the seven key swing states where the results will determine the winner. In Pennsylvania's presidential election four years ago, 53 percent of voters were women and 47 percent were men.
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