Abortion, parental rights, trans issues: What would a Kamala Harris victory look like?

By Ryan Foley, Christian Post Reporter Wednesday, October 23, 2024

Abortion

Harris’ campaign website includes a statement promising that “When Congress passes a bill to restore reproductive freedom [abortion] nationwide, she will sign it.”

While the campaign doesn’t mention any specific legislation by name, the Women’s Health Protection Act already passed the Democrat-controlled U.S. House of Representatives in the 117th Congress during the first two years of the Biden-Harris administration. 

The bill failed to become law due to opposition from the evenly divided Senate. Democratic control of Congress remains the only way the Women’s Health Protection Act has any chance of becoming law. 

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The effort to “restore” abortion nationwide comes as Democrats remain outraged over the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade in the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision. The Dobbsruling determined that the U.S. Constitution does not contain a right to abortion and reversed the Roe decision that legalized abortion nationwide. 

Following the Dobbs decision, several states have implemented pro-life protections. Data compiled by the pro-life group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America shows that 13 states have near-total abortion bans on the books: Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia. Four additional states have such measures caught up in litigation: North Dakota, Utah, Wisconsin and Wyoming. 

An additional three states have laws that prohibit abortions after six weeks gestation: Florida, Iowa and South Carolina. Georgia has its “heartbeat bill” in court. Nebraska and North Carolina have 12-week abortion bans in place, while Arizona bans abortion after 15 weeks.

Even without the Women’s Health Protection Act, referendums in Arizona, Florida, Missouri, Nebraska and South Dakota this year could roll back pro-life protections in the respective states. If approved by voters, the ballot measures would amend the state constitutions to establish a right to abortion. Referendums are also on the ballot in Colorado, Maryland, Montana and Nevada, listed among the 26 states and the District of Columbia that have “few or no protections” for unborn babies. 

Meanwhile, voters in New York will vote on establishing an Equal Rights Amendment, which adds “reproductive healthcare” to a list of protected characteristics under state law. If approved, the measure would effectively create a right to abortion in the state. 

Most recent available polling shows that the pro-abortion referendums have majority support in Maryland (69%), New York (64%), Florida (60%), South Dakota (53%) and Arizona (52%), while only achieving plurality support of 46% in Missouri and 45% in Nebraska. With the exception of Florida, where the proposed constitutional amendment must clear a 60% threshold to pass, it will only take the support of a simple majority of voters for the pro-abortion ballot measures to become law.