Abortion is set to be one of the most important issues of the coming 2024 election cycle, with the existential threat to the right to abortion being extremely credible given recent statewide attacks and bans. Although many voters are very dissatisfied with the rematch between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, this issue could become a heavy motivating factor for democratic voters. Especially as many continue to vote “uncommitted” in Democratic primaries due to an incredible amount of anger over President Biden’s handling of Israel’s destruction in Gaza. Democrats are aware that they need a point to win over people when they are overwhelmingly failing to appeal to their base on most other issues, and so they are already ramping up their campaign materials centered around protecting abortion and other reproductive treatments like in vitro fertilization. The only problem is they’ve been doing this for years, and abortion access in America continues to worsen anyway. It raises the question of what has more value to Democrats: abortion rights or American’s desire to protect them?
Abortion has a wide base of support across the United States. A strong majority of Americans disapprove of the overturning of Roe v. Wade, and 62% of Americans believe that abortion should be legal in all or most cases. A similar percentage, 63% of respondents in a Gallup poll supported the abortion pill mifepristone to be available as a prescription drug around the U.S. In terms of IVF treatments, what seems to be Republicans’ next target, around 86% of Americans approve of the practice. Even though abortion is one of the most emotionally and morally charged issues at the center of politics right now, with such support from a majority of Americans, incredibly, the issue has not only failed to move forward at all but regressed so much in the past few years. Now, there are 14 states where abortion bans are in place and enforced, with many more attempting to join them with similar acts on hold because of temporary court proceedings. The momentum of the pro-life movement currently is very strong, and a Trump presidency would only further this as he is the self-proclaimed “most pro-life president in American history.”
The problem is that Democrats have had opportunities to do something about this for years. Barack Obama promised Planned Parenthood when running for president in 2008 that codifying Roe was “the first thing I’d do as president”. After he won the presidency, he largely tried to stay out of the issue, calling it a “culture war” and saying it was “not my highest legislative priority.” Obama completely failed to put Merrick Garland on the Supreme Court, and he had the opportunity to do so regardless of Republican senate opposition. Democrats could have pushed for Ruth Bader Ginsberg to retire earlier and replaced her with a younger democratic judge. After the 2020 elections, Democrats had control of the House, the Senate and the presidency but chose to focus their efforts on centrist, bipartisan legislation. It was not enough that even the Dobbs opinion was leaked early while democrats still had the aforementioned control, they still failed in the face of Roe’s destruction to ensure lasting protections. Later on, in November of that year, President Biden’s only answer was to once again ask voters to support Democrats, and that this time he would not hesitate to codify it if given a supportive Congress.
Now in 2024, the cycle of disappointment and broken promises is starting once again. The question is whether it will be enough to convince voters despite everything else Democrats are failing at currently. As much as I would like to see change, I do not trust Democrats when it comes to seeing it through. The only thing they seem to care about more than protecting people’s rights is the fear that losing those rights has over us.