More Voters, Especially Women, Now Say Abortion Is Their Top Issue

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 energized.

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 in August. 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 Trump to handle abortion.

Trump has repeatedly changed his position on the issue, despite appointing Supreme Court justices who overturned the constitutional right to abortion. On Thursday, he even suggested 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 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.

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 has also been able to build support on the abortion issue with some of the key Democratic-leaning constituencies with whom 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.

Still, it is unclear just how much abortion will move votes. More than a quarter of swing-state voters say inflation or the economy is the most important issue to their vote, while 14% list abortion. Abortion is now roughly tied with immigration as swing-state voters’ most important issue.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times .