Rachel, played by Jennifer Aniston on the popular TV show “Friends” once said - “No uterus, no opinion.” and yet as I see more of this world, I realise everyone has an opinion on it.
The US Supreme Court in June passed the Roe V Wade judgement that cancelled abortion rights for many women in the country. While a controversial decision by itself, Judge Alito justified it by quoting Matthew Hale -”…if a physician gave a woman 'with child' a 'potion' to cause an abortion, and the woman died, it was 'murder' because the potion was given 'unlawfully to destroy her child within her,'” Alito mentioned.
Leading up to the 2024 US presidential elections the Roe V Wade is also proving to be quite a determinant for the primaries and the grand finale in 2024 itself.
The NY and Kansas Referendum
This was made clear as soon as the new New York Elect Representative Pat Ryan won the primaries with a lot of popularity against his contender Marc Molinaro. Democrat Pat laid out a clear agenda on fighting women’s right to abortion and restoring their right to choice vs Republican Molinaro who rallied against inflation and crime rate.
This isn’t quite it - as soon as the Supreme Court passed the Roe V Wade judgement , Kansas, which has been considered as amongst one of heavily Republican states, surprised everyone by becoming one of the first states where the voters in a referendum overturned a constitutional amendment against abortion rights. In fact, days leading up to the election, 70% of the newly registered voters in Kansas were women. The surge in new registrations from women weren’t just observed in Kansas but across the country in states like Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida, Maine, New Mexico, where the turn out of new registrations for women rose by 35% vs 12% for men.
“Yes, after a "right" was taken away after 50 years, expect political backlash to continue. That backlash was a factor in the 2022 midterms and will continue into 2024. Regardless of one's opinion about abortion, expect the political cost to be borne by Republicans at the ballot box.” says Myra Adams, a very senior Political Analyst and Op-ed Contributor to The Hill.
Pro Life Florida
It still remains to be seen if this turn out for female voters will continue to be persistent enough to overthrow candidates on the basis of their stance on the abortion rights for women. Recently Florida also elected Ron De Santis , who’s being called as one of the prime candidates for the Republicans after Trump, and he got elected to office despite his stance against abortion. Now that Trump has announced his plans for candidacy it remains to be seen if Santis would step forward or wait for his time.
"... There are Republican primary voters who are looking to move on from Trump but not necessarily "Trumpism." DeSantis appears to fit that slot. However, he is untested on the national stage. He has constructed a cocoon in Florida where he avoids media that is not friendly. At this point "hope" is high among those GOP voters looking for a "fresh face", someone to be the future of the Republican Party. Whether "hope" will translate into "victory" in the 2024 primaries is light years away in political time. DeSantis is not even a declared candidate and probably will not be until May or June 2023. Anything can and will happen by the time the primaries start in 2024.” adds Myra.
Corporates Step Up to Support
As Florida recently got the constitutional amendment against abortion passed in its state, several corporate giants came forward in support of their employees. In light of the recent toll that the abortion laws has taken on women who are first generation immigrants, belong to a minority community or have access to less resources. Corporates like Disney, Amazon, BCG are now offering to help cover travel costs related to abortion, and other reproductive rights that offer professional women more choice and agency in the process. Many companies are also offering to cover the process for fertility extension treatments for many female professionals, to enable choice at a later life stage.
“For large corporations, it’s hard to take a stance on such issues without taking political sides. My workplace is no different. However, my employer provides national coverage to each employee, which allows for us to travel across state borders to receive care. This allows us to have certain freedom & flexibility in terms of access - in a nation where the right to choose is no longer a right, I believe this is the most that an employer can offer on this front.
However, my employer’s indirect actions are what have truly made me feel supported. They recently expanded their coverage of fertility extension treatments, and have added additional mental health resources to their toolkit. I think these are both important and feed into the larger implications of the Roe V Wade decision - allowing employees to have the freedom to decide when they expand their families, and helping them deal with the emotional & mental toll this (and many other) decision has had on people with different beliefs.” says a Chicago-based Management Consulting professional with a top tier firm.
Representation Matters
As republicans deal with the weight of Roe V Wade heading into the elections, the current US President Joe Biden is rallying hard with his Vice President Kamala Harris to support abortion rights for women, and despite his many misses in his on going stint, this is a major plus on Biden and with the Democrats who are not quite united on the announcement on who will be their presidential candidate for 2024.
“The next in line is the incumbent Vice President Kamala Harris. Her title means she is Biden's natural heir. But since she is considered "weak," defeating her will be challenging for Democrats since Harris represents the two largest bases in the Democrat Party -- women and people of colour. If Biden does not run for reelection, Harris must prove that she is a strong candidate and can win in 2024. So far, I have not seen any evidence of political strength, which means Gov. Gavin Newsom of CA could enter the race and be a strong opponent. Also, Pete Buttigieg, might be a candidate. Sen. Amy Klobuchar too. There will be others, because as long as Harris is perceived as weak, there will be a contentious primary fight to lead the ticket. Most interesting is if Biden will endorse his VP to help prevent such a fight but could prove embarrassing to Biden if she is defeated in a primary. “ sums up Myra .
I remember being overjoyed when Kamala Harris took oath as the Vice President of The United States of America, not because of her Indian lineage but because she’s a woman and to have representation that is close to oval office- perhaps the most powerful office in the world, means something to all of us across the world. Especially that until the early 20th century women didn’t have the right to vote!
The US Presidential Elections 2024 will prove to be a turning point for the race to the office, it seems that it would have to be won by winning the hearts of the female population too for both the Republicans and the Democrats.
—The author, Aishwarya Nir
, is a female entrepreneur, who has founded and is actively involved in managing Global Beauty Secrets- a luxury beauty brand. She’s also a Director at Aishwarya Healthcare - a pharmaceutical company. The views expressed are personal.
Read her previous articles here
(Edited by : CH Unnikrishnan)
First Published: Dec 24, 2022 11:18 AM IST
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