Following another amazing run for reproductive freedom this week, Democrats are racing to add abortion rights measures to the ballot in key states across the country, according to Axios. Those states include Arizona, Nevada, and Florida—the first two of which played a critical role in cementing then-presidential candidate Joe Biden's victory in 2020. Measures in Nebraska and South Dakota are also in the offing.
Organizing abortion rights ballot measures in basically any state is a smart political strategy for two key reasons: First, it's a winner. Red state, blue state—it doesn't matter. The double-digit win codifying abortion rights in very Republican Ohio became the seventh straight victory for reproductive freedom at the ballot box since last year, when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, eliminating the constitutional right to abortion.
Second, a rising tide lifts all boats. Voters' fervent support for abortion rights works to Democrats' advantage up and down the ballot. And most importantly, it will boost President Joe Biden's reelection bid.
None of these ballot measures are a done deal, though. In Florida, for instance, activists must amass more than 890,000 signatures representing at least half of the state's 28 congressional districts by Feb. 1.
Local organizers are urging national Democrats to help their cause.
"If you're really interested in affecting turnout in Florida in 2024, then the place to put your money is in this ballot initiative because it's going to pay off all the way down the ballot," Anna Hochkammer, executive director of Florida Women's Freedom Coalition, told Axios.
While recent horse-race polling of 2024 tells us little about how a likely Biden-Trump rematch would play out, what it does reveal is lukewarm enthusiasm for Biden's reelection.
But protecting abortion care in this country is a turnout machine for a righteous cause. And while some pro-abortion rights voters support Republicans, many more of them cast a ballot for Democrats once they get to the polls. That proved true in both the 2022 midterms and Ohio this week. As ABC News wrote of Tuesday's exit polling the Buckeye State ballot measure:
Liberals accounted for 34% of voters in Ohio exit poll results, up sharply from 20% in the 2022 midterms and 21% in the 2020 presidential election. That's a record-high turnout among liberals in Ohio exit polls dating back to 1984. They backed both the abortion and marijuana referenda by vast margins, 94-6% for abortion and 85-15% for marijuana.
Simply put: Democratic-leaning voters are lit over the issue of abortion even if they're so-so on Biden. The clearer that Democrats can make the choice between freedom and autocracy for voters next year, the better. Abortion rights have proven to be extremely clarifying for pro-democracy voters of all stripes.
As Axios notes, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, has described Democrats' path to victory in 2024 as "Dobbs and Democracy." That's just another way of saying the election comes down to freedom versus Trump, and reproductive freedom continues to play a critical role in that electoral equation.
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