United States – A quarter of female Black voter’s name abortion as the most crucial factor they consider in choosing a presidential candidate, according to data from the health-policy research firm, as per the KFF survey released on Thursday.
Changing Trends
The results suggest that it was a significant shift from the previous election years when white conservative evangelicals used to see abortion as their first and foremost concern before voting. Those voters were so excited to cast their ballots for Donald Trump, who promised to appoint US Supreme Court judges that would ratify the constitutional right to an abortion as a thing of the past, as reported by Associated Press.
Nevertheless, a mere six months before the first presidential election since the controversial ruling on Roe v. Wade in June 2022, the trend entirely shifted, according to the KFF’s survey.
“It’s a complete shift,” said Ashley Kirzinger, a KFF pollster. “Abortion voters are young, Black women — and not white evangelicals.”
Survey Findings
In conclusion, about 12% of voters surveyed indicated that abortion was the most pressing issue which they considered in the course of casting their vote in this year’s elections.
Some female voters, nonetheless, cast an eye on the issue as so pivotal. The constituency comprises 28% of Black women, 19% of women who live under abortion ban states, and 17% of women who are under the age of fifty.
Among voters who claimed access to abortion as their main medium of coverage, two-thirds said they were in favor of the legalization of abortion in most or all cases.
Historical Perspective
Looking for decades, white evangelicals excited to ban abortion have cast their ballots on the matter, according to Kirzinger. Trump, though a Republican, had more than a decade-long-time trying to secure their votes by campaigning for conservative judges and with a cohort of religious surrogates telling evangelicals that the Democratic opponents would unequivocally expand abortion access within the US. Despite of this, Trump still had received a huge support from white evangelicals during his previous presidential campaigns.
Nevertheless, stricter abortion laws are enacted by the states and Trump may have to fight again in the 2020 election against Democratic rival Joe Biden, thus, the root of vaccine for the abortion voter has moved, according to Kirzinger. Biden has said that legalizing abortion since the ruling of the court has become his priority.
“Abortion — it’s clearly resonating with this group,” Kirzinger said. “When we think about abortion access and who is disadvantaged, it’s Black women.”
2020 Impact and Biden’s Stance
Women, especially Black women, played a defining role in 2020, leading Biden to victory over Trump. Yesterday, Joe Biden’s campaign expressed the hope that the first lady would once more spearhead the effort to get the rising generation to vote in the 2020 elections.
Southern States and Abortion Laws
The majority of Black Americans live in Southern states, and most of them have now enacted prohibitive abortion laws as soon as the decision of the Supreme Court was published. By the end of last year, nearly 25 million women in states that had enacted new restrictions following a court decision were found to be living there, according to an AP analysis.
Nearly two-thirds of voters surveyed by KFF are against the national abortion ban that is starting with 16 weeks’ pregnancy. It is unknown if Trump supports such bans, but some reports say that he has secretly told people he does.