Polls show big increase in Republicans planning to vote for abortion rights

In some states, that GOP number could even approach a majority.


Vice President Kamala Harris speaks about abortion rights in Atlanta this month. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Analysis by Aaron Blake
September 30, 2024 at 1:46 p.m. EDT

The politics of abortion rights have shifted massively toward Democrats since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. Nothing makes that clearer than the fact that the Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump, hemmed and hawed for months about whether he would vote in his home state of Florida to establish a constitutional right to an abortion.

Trump ultimately said he would vote no. But lots of other Republicans are arriving at a different decision.

A remarkable number are apparently about to do something that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago: vote for the right to an abortion.

Nearly a dozen states will feature ballot measures on abortion rights this November, and recent polls show that many more Republicans are prepared to vote for those rights than have been in recent years. The number could even approach a majority in some states, these polls suggest.

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By Aaron Blake
Aaron Blake is senior political reporter, writing for The Fix. A Minnesota native, he has also written about politics for the Minneapolis Star Tribune and The Hill newspaper.follow on X @aaronblake