As Election Day rapidly approaches, we keep hearing that “every vote counts.” In the 2020 vote, Biden received 7 million more popular votes, but in the Electoral College, the margin was only 44,000. There is much at stake for all of us in this year’s election, and it will be very close. Yet among democracies worldwide, the U.S. ranks 31st for the percentage of eligible individuals who actually vote. Women tend to vote more than men, but now more than ever, women need to exercise this right.
This election is particularly critical due to the fundamental threats it poses to democratic values and individual rights, especially concerning abortion access. A new survey from KFF, a non-partisan health policy research organization, reveals a strong consensus among women aged 18 to 49 in favor of maintaining a national right to abortion and opposing a national ban. This demographic’s significant support highlights the broader societal push for reproductive rights to be protected nationally rather than relegated to state jurisdictions.
In the wake of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, anti-abortion activists are strategizing beyond state-level restrictions. Their next step is a nationwide abortion ban, a campaign they hope to enact through the next president. Central to this effort is Plan 2025, a 922-page policy blueprint led by the Heritage Foundation. Crafted by former Trump administration officials and advisors, it outlines a radical overhaul of the executive branch of the next administration. Here’s an overview of Plan 2025.
Among its most consequential proposals is a directive for the Department of Health and Human Services to reverse the FDA’s 24-year-old approval of mifepristone, one of the two drugs used in medication abortions, which comprise two-thirds of all abortions in the US. According to this agenda, abortion pills represent the “single greatest threat to unborn children in a post-Roe world.” This includes a call to end mail-order abortions, which they argue violate a long-standing federal law, the Comstock Act of 1873.
The Comstock Act, largely dormant for decades, was initially designed to prohibit the mailing of “obscene” materials, including contraceptives and substances used to induce abortion. Spearheaded by evangelical crusader Anthony Comstock, the act reflects a punitive approach to women for engaging in sexual activity.
A literal interpretation of the Comstock Act could extend beyond abortion pills to include medical instruments used in procedural abortions, such as dilators, suction catheters, and even gloves and speculums. This interpretation would effectively criminalize the mailing or shipping of any materials necessary for abortion care, even in states where abortion remains legal.
Enforcing the Comstock Act could present significant challenges. Yet its revival signals a broader ambition: a de facto ban on all abortions in the U.S. There would be no need for federal legislation because the Comstock Act is the law now. While the current Justice Department maintains that the Comstock Act does not apply to abortion drugs, anti- abortion activists are poised to press for a reinterpretation under a new Attorney General. Efforts to repeal the law have failed in the current Congress up to now. The potential impact of this revival on women’s health and rights cannot be overstated.
The outcome of this election will determine whether critical issues most central to women’s lives are addressed through democratic means or undermined by those who seek to impose their ideology at the expense of individual rights and freedoms. We must secure a majority in Congress and elect a president to whom these freedoms are a priority in order to codify the national right to reproductive health care, repeal the Comstock Act, and pass the IVF Protection Act.
Furthermore, voting down the ballot is especially important, as it has become evident that state and local governments are crucial to protecting reproductive rights in a post-Dobbs world. The following states will include abortion-related state constitutional amendment measures on the 2024 ballot: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, and South Dakota.
Getting out the vote is critical in this year’s election. We not only have to exercise our right to vote, but we need to support efforts to get out the vote in strategically important areas of the country. We need to support organizations that mobilize volunteers where they can do the most good in battleground states. Mobilize lists activities all over the country to get out the vote. If you cannot join in activities, Movement Voters Project channels donations to grass-roots groups in the places that matter most.
Learn about the history and personal impact of women’s right to vote in Stand UP, Speak OUT Docuseries, Episode 2: Voting Rights.