Currently, ten U.S. states have made abortion rights a key topic for the 2024 elections. With the debate over "life" now being completely partisan, abortion rights have been transformed into a political symbol, further widening the divisions splitting the American society.
BEIJING, Nov. 2 (Xinhua) -- U.S. media revealed in September a tragic death case that happened in 2022: 28-year-old Amber Nicole Thurman from the state of Georgia took abortion pills but, due to complications, still needed surgical procedures to complete the process.
Just in that year, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, a landmark decision in 1973 that secured the country's constitutional right to abortion. The state of Georgia then made routine procedures of dilation and curettage a felony, with doctors facing up to a decade in prison for violations. Thurman thus had to wait for long hours and eventually died of infections in a hospital that could have saved her.
The New York Times commented that when such stories are exposed, they "can be used by either side of the political spectrum to advance its causes." Currently, ten U.S. states have made abortion rights a key topic for the 2024 elections. With the debate over "life" now being completely partisan, abortion rights have been transformed into a political symbol, further widening the divisions splitting the American society.
ABORTION AS POLITICAL, NOT HEALTH ISSUE
Prior to the 1970s, U.S. politicians' views on abortion didn't break down along neat party lines. In Congress, Republicans voted against abortion at about the same rate as Democrats.
The turning point came in 1972 when Republican Richard Nixon used an anti-abortion stance to win Catholic voters and other social conservatives. The shift against abortion rights was aimed to portray the Republican Party as pro-family and mobilize socially conservative voters, gradually making abortion a partisan issue.
A May study by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) showed that Republicans and Democrats are deeply divided on abortion, with a 50 percentage point gap between them, a figure that is "larger than ever."
The abortion issue is now deeply embedded in U.S. politics, with both parties using legislative and executive orders to influence abortion rights as tools to sway public opinion and build voter bases. In 2021 alone, nearly 600 abortion restrictions were introduced nationwide, with 90 of them enacted into law.
"We're seeing the largest partisan gap we've ever seen when it comes to Americans' attitudes about abortion legality," said Melissa Deckman, the CEO of PRRI.
While Republicans shore up their conservative base with an anti-abortion stance, Democrats supporting abortion rights have strategic moves of their own.
According to The New York Times, during the 2022 midterms, Democrats seized the opportunity of the Roe v. Wade reversal to link abortion rights with family and healthcare issues. By tapping into voter concerns over the rise of conservatism, they shifted focus away from economic issues and strengthened support among women and young voters, ultimately preventing a Republican "red wave" in the midterms.
POLITICAL PARTY-INTEREST GROUP ALLIANCE
Chloe Thurston, political scientist from Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern University, believes that as abortion becomes more central to Congress and presidential elections, alliances between political parties and interest groups with clear stances on abortion have become more common, further widening the partisan divide on the issue.
Analysts note that the alliance between parties and interest groups is a win-win scenario. Parties need donations and endorsements, while interest groups use lobbying and financial influence to impact government policies.
Since 1989, abortion-rights groups have donated 32 million U.S. dollars to Democrats and 3 million dollars to pro-abortion Republicans, while groups that opposed abortion have given 14 million dollars to Republicans and 372,000 dollars to Democrats, according to OpenSecrets, which tracks money in politics.
Interest group funds are not limited to direct contributions to politicians. Super Political Action Committees (PAC), created after the Supreme Court loosened restrictions on donations in 2010, raise funds from individuals, corporations, and interest groups, using them to run ads influencing public opinion and election outcomes. OpenSecrets reports showed that in the 2023-2024 election cycle, pro-abortion groups donated 3.37 million dollars, part of which went to Super PACs.
According to The 19th, an independent, nonprofit U.S. news organization, in just one month before the 2022 midterm elections, four Super PACs focused on abortion spent 6 million dollars on campaign ads and voter outreach. Spending millions on ads close to election time is strategic, with these groups believing abortion rhetoric can swing election results, which "tells a story about the electoral environment." ■