Beyond abortion rights: Why did Kamala Harris lose women’s votes?

The number of American women voting Democratic declines after Joe Biden’s election to the presidency. Why?

Donald Trump’s defeat of Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 United States presidential election has signalled women’s rights – specifically the right to an abortion – was less of a key issue than expected for voters.

This was the first presidential election since the Supreme Court overturned the landmark 1973 Roe v Wade court ruling, which ended a woman’s right to terminate a pregnancy. Trump has repeatedly claimed credit for that 2022 verdict, which was made possible by his appointments of three conservative judges to the top court.

The Harris campaign made much of Trump’s stance on reproductive rights in a bid to woo female voters, particularly in the swing states. However, early national exit polls showed that Harris had won the support of 54 percent of women, lower than President Joe Biden did in 2020 when he had the support of 57 percent.

So what happened to the female vote?

The Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v Wade in June 2022 was a huge turning point for women’s reproductive rights in the US and sparked a massive backlash from women’s rights and medical groups.