Opinion

Why abortion did not stay on the ballot

Abortion matters a great deal to American women – just not where it would count in US electoral politics this week.

Rosalind DixonProfessor of law

Nov 8, 2024 – 1.10pm

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Abortion was predicted to be a major issue in the 2024 US presidential election. Yet it turned out to play only a minor role. How did this happen? What went wrong for the Harris campaign, and reproductive rights advocates, on Tuesday?

Abortion was clearly a major issue in the last midterm elections, for the US Congress in 2022, and played strongly in favour of Democrats in that context.

Rosalind Dixon is a professor of law and director of the Gilbert+ Tobin Centre of Public Law at UNSW Sydney, and director of the Pathways to Politics Program for Women NSW.