The Week in Women Voters (April 15, 2024)
I’m going to do something a little different this week; Instead of covering a number of topics connected to the priorities of young women, I want to take the time to dive a little deeper into one specific issue—reproductive freedom in Arizona.
First, let’s talk about why Arizona. It’s not just because I’m a proud resident of the Grand Canyon State—though I can name all five C’s, and I’ll fight anyone who doesn’t agree that Baja Arizona is the superior region. It’s actually because this week, Arizona became the most explicit example of what exactly is at stake this year and in this election.
For context, we began the week with former President Donald Trump releasing a video declaring that decisions on abortion access should be left to the states. Make no bones about it, the move was a purely strategic one—Trump both took credit for the Supreme Court overturning the constitutional right to abortion and also distanced himself from the very real implications of the decision.
Then, less than 24 hours later, his statement was put to the test when the Arizona Supreme Court upheld an abortion ban dating back to 1864 (that’s right, it’s a Civil War-era law that was enacted nearly half a century before Arizona even became a state). In that instant, Arizona became priority one for the 2024 election.
Within hours, Republicans across the state were denouncing the decision, many potentially hoping to erase previous stances on reproductive freedom. Trump was back pedaling his statement while doubling down against federal action on abortion. Vice President Kamala Harris headed to Tucson before the week was out.
But, showing their true nature, Republican leaders in Arizona shortly after the decision repeatedly blocked efforts to repeal the law, voted for a week-long recess, and then allegedly headed to a big-ticket donor event in Kentucky (apparently they need time to read over the law and also need bourbon while they do it). It’s clear they’re trying to contain backlash against the move while still appealing to the most extreme members of the party.
These power-hungry politicians know that this decision by the Arizona Supreme Court raised the stakes up and down the ballot. They also know that voters have shown time and again that, when abortion is on the ballot (either directly or indirectly), voters overwhelmingly support reproductive freedom. And that’s largely due to young voters, particularly young women, who are mobilized by the issue.
In Arizona, abortion will be decided in November in a number of ways. First, organizers are currently working to get a reproductive freedom initiative on the ballot. Success on the effort looks very promising. What’s more, control of both the Arizona House and Senate are up for grabs with Republicans holding a single-vote majority in both chambers. Republicans running for election in the state will need to defend both their track record on reproductive freedom and have their name on a ballot next to abortion.
And federal election success for either party hinges on Arizona—both for the U.S. House and Senate as well as the presidency. In 2020, Biden won Arizona by a mere 10,000 votes, and those 11 Electoral College votes are crucial. But it’s critical to note that, while state leadership can run directly on repealing the arcane law and supporting a constitutional amendment to protect reproductive freedom, federal candidates have yet to identify how they can successfully run on abortion. Young women recognize that abortion isn’t truly protected unless decisions are put directly in the hands of voters. What’s more, young voters don’t support either candidate at the top of the ticket. Federal efforts to protect abortion access have thus far been unsuccessful. And on the flip side, many voters don’t take Trump seriously when it comes to abortion because they rightly recognize his actions are always in pursuit of his own power rather than based on values.
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Written by Jess Herrera. Jess is Supermajority Ed Fund’s senior director of communications, creative, and digital. She leads the organization’s work to shift the narrative about women and build women’s power using strong, movement-wide messaging strategies.