Superstar Beyonce at Kamala Harris abortion rally shows issue’s divisive power | Paul Starick

Pop superstar Beyonce’s appearance at an abortion rights rally shows the issue has the power to divide more than just the SA Liberal party, writes Paul Starick.

The emotion-laden abortion debate that fractured the South Australian parliament is not going away – just ask superstar Beyonce.

The pop singer will appear with United States Vice President Kamala Harris at a rally focusing on abortion rights in Houston on Saturday, Australian time.

The Democratic Presidential candidate has been using Beyonce’s song Freedom at her rallies, as she casts Republican rival Donald Trump as a threat to pro-choice abortion freedoms.

The freedom theme has run through the Harris campaign.

Rapper Eminem, introducing former President Barack Obama at a rally on Tuesday, said he believed Ms Harris would protect free speech.

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“I think Vice President Harris supports a future for this country where these freedoms and many others will be protected and upheld,” he said.

At the Houston rally, Beyonce is expected to perform Freedom, which has become the Harris campaign anthem, to highlight abortion rights.

The highest number of statewide abortion-related measures in a single year will appear on the ballot at the November 5 Presidential election.

Ms Harris is winning over women voters by positioning herself as the reproductive rights candidate, vowing to restore freedoms overturned by the US Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to reverse Roe v. Wade and end the constitutional right to abortion.

The cover art for Beyonce’s Cowboy Carter album. Picture; Supplied.

US Vice President Kamala Harris delivers remarks on reproductive rights at Ritchie Coliseum on the campus of the University of Maryland on June 24, 2024 in College Park, Maryland. Picture: Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images via AFP

Abortion has become the most important issue at the Presidential election for women under 30, Time reported on October 23.

But this has contributed to a Democratic collapse among males, according to an October 18 New York Times poll, as they flock in droves to Mr Trump.

Abortion has been a prominent issue in the final week of the Queensland election campaign – voters go to the polls on Saturday.

This is despite just 11 per cent of voters rating it as a top-two issue, according to a Newspoll published on Friday.

Unsurprisingly, cost of living was, by far, the most important issue.

Yet Liberal National Party leader David Crisafulli squandered a decisive poll lead as he was derailed by attacks on his party’s abortion stance and fell victim to a weak small-target strategy.

Queensland Premier Steven Miles and Opposition Leader David Crisafulli at the Courier-Mail/Sky News People’s Forum. Picture. Adam Head.

After being asked about his stance on abortion more than 130 times over the course of the campaign, Mr Crisafulli at the Courier-Mail/Sky News People’s Forum on Tuesday night revealed he supported a woman’s right to choose.

The concession was finally wrung out of him by a question from Queensland Premier Steven Miles, after Mr Crisafulli vowed: “There will be no change to abortion laws, and I want Queenslanders to hear that directly from me.”

Abortion emerged as a central campaign issue when conservative crossbench MPs, One Nation and Katter’s Australian Party, proposed changes to the state’s abortion laws in the next term of parliament, in a direct challenge to Mr Crisafulli’s authority over the LNP.

Despite his insistence there will be no change to abortion laws, Mr Crisafulli cannot control how his conservative MPs vote in a conscience vote.

Voters clearly have responded to his evasiveness on the issue by shaving the LNP’s margin, turning Mr Crisafulli’s party from a red-hot favourite to Newspoll indicating a knife-edge win.

Liberal upper house member Ben Hood with supporters of his abortion reform outside Parliament House on September 24. (L-R) Nicola Centofanti, Professor Joanna Howe, Ben Hood, Laura Henderson, Sarah Game, Heidi Girolamo. Picture: Paul Starick

In South Australia, the Liberal Party’s infamous divisions were again exposed by the furore that erupted at the late-night October 16 upper house defeat of controversial late-term abortion reforms.

Conservative Liberal Ben Hood’s bill, requiring mothers seeking abortions after 28 weeks to deliver their babies alive, was defeated 10-9.

It is unlikely Mr Hood will attempt abortion reform again before the 2026 election.

But campaigners are banking on official data released in April to highlight an increase in late-term abortions, which they argue are an unintended consequence of 2021 reforms.

Abortion might not be at the forefront of mainstream voters’ concerns but it remains a powerful, emotive and divisive issue that can sway support in critical elections.