Both sides of the abortion debate believe the issue was a factor in the US midterm election results.
In referendums on polling day voters in the progressive states of California and Vermont and the battleground state of Michigan approved enshrining the right to abortion in their state constitutions.
Usually conservative Kentucky rejected a state constitutional amendment that would prevented the right to abortion.
The result won’t automatically reverse that state’s current legislation which prohibits most abortions.
Currently, 13 states ban abortion in most cases while others seriously restrict access.
Pro-choice advocates are hailing the approval of the ballot initiatives as a ‘resounding victory’ and a blow to the pro-life movement because it could change abortion access for millions of Americans.
One in four voters said abortion was their top issue when deciding how to vote according to a Reuters exit poll.
Pew Research found that 61% of Americans believe that abortion should be legal in all or most cases.
“Ballot initiatives are tricky, you have to educate voters on unique language – that language can be the death blow sometimes,” said Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America.
Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America criticised Republican strategists for failing to make the party’s position on abortion clear, citing it as a potential reason for some of the party’s losses.
President Marjorie Dannenfelser explained: “We win when we take a position that is popular and clear and confident and we contrast that position with our opponents.”
She praised Republican candidates who fared well like Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Texas Governor Greg Abbot and Georgia Governor Brian Kemp.
Ms. Dannenfelser noted Governors DeSantis and Kemp signed legislation protecting pain-capable preborn children and restricting abortion once a heartbeat is detected.
She believes Mehmet Oz lost the key Senate race in Pennsylvania because he assumed the issue would “go away.”
“He did a very poor job of saying what he would do if he were elected for the people of Pennsylvania on the life front,” Ms. Dannenfelser told The Christian Post.
She also commended Senator Lindsey Graham for introducing the 15-week abortion ban bill because it answered the question about the party’s stance on abortion.
