August Pew Research Center poll indicates that 46 percent of Trump supporters and 35 percent of Biden supporters view abortion as a very important issue in the 2020 presidential election. How did abortion become so politicized? Since when is abortion a key debate issue in U.S. elections? What have changed under president Trump, and what will change with the new president regarding abortion rights of women?
According to Vox coverage, it wasn't until the 1972 that abortion entered politics in America. President Richard Nixon used anti-abortion and pro-life as a tool to attract Catholic, evangelical and conservative voters.
Under president Trump, clinics funded from the Title X program were no longer able to perform abortion in the same space as other health care services. The Atlantic revealed that the loss of Title X funds resulted in closure of many Planned Parenthood clinics, which take up about 40 percent of 4,000 Title X clinics in the U.S. This means less health care and abortion clinics available for mostly poor and uninsured women.
Joe Biden and Donald Trump had varying policies regarding reproductive health care for women and abortion rights. BBC compared the policies of the two presidential candidates, and Biden's key message was protecting legal abortion and women's right to choose, whereas Trump maintained his firm pro-life stance on banning abortion.
The victory of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris was in large part thanks to female and black voters who voted for Biden according to exit polls 2020.
With Kamala Harris as the vice president, the possibility of resolving racial discrimination, giving women safe and legal access to abortions and women aiming for higher positions by breaking through glass ceilings all seems more feasible than ever. Bettina Love shared with The Guardian how she feels about Kamala Harris as the new vice president. "Joy and hope... but no honeymoon period." Surely, there is a lot of responsibility for the next leaders of America. But it seems we are on the right path to make change.
Written by. Hyunsoo Kim soosoupkimmy@hanyang.ac.kr