Abortion is on the ballot in three US states, from the Supreme Court to the governor | miscarriage
When the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade more than three years ago, unleashing a wave of state-level abortion bans, the justices catapulted abortion rights to the top of the minds of American voters. The issue has dominated every election cycle since then – and 2025 will be no different.
The gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia could have dire consequences for abortion access in two states that have become havens for women fleeing abortion bans. In Pennsylvania, what should have been a relatively quiet election to retain judicial power has evolved into the most expensive race of its kind in nearly 50 years, due in large part to the heated fight over abortion. With voters considering keeping three Democratic justices on the state Supreme Court, supporters fear liberals will lose control of the bench and, ultimately, abortion access in the purple state.
New Jersey
New Jersey is one of the most abortion-friendly states in the country because it does not place a pregnancy limit on the procedure. But abortion rights activists fear that could soon change, depending on the outcome of the contest between Republican Jack Ciattarelli, a former New Jersey state representative, and Democrat Mickey Sherrill, the current state representative.
While Cheryl supports New Jersey’s current law, Ciattarelli believes abortion should be banned after 20 weeks of pregnancy. He has also voted several times to strip government funding from Planned Parenthood and wants to ban minors from getting abortions unless they notify their parents.
“I have always supported a woman’s right to choose,” Chiattarelli said. Recent discussion. “What I don’t support is making New Jersey the abortion capital of the country, and inviting other people — people from other states — to come to New Jersey and get abortions. I don’t support that, let alone using taxpayer money to do that.”
“When you do things like my opponent proposed, people die,” Sherrill responded. “These are not pro-choice positions.”
Over the past few weeks, Planned Parenthood and Reproductive Freedom for All have announced large ad buys in support of Cheryl. Survey from Rutgers University – New Brunswick It found that as of late October, Sherrill had a five-point lead over Ciattarelli.
Pennsylvania
Come November, Pennsylvania voters will decide whether to retain state Supreme Court Justices Christine Donohue, Kevin Dougherty and David Wecht, all Democrats. If voters decide to oust any of the justices, the state’s Democratic governor, Josh Shapiro, will appoint an interim replacement to fill the seat until competitive elections can be held in 2027.
But a loss for either justice could tip the balance of the court, which Democrats currently control 5-2.
Because the fall of Roe means that US supreme courts now tend to have the final say on whether abortion laws are legal, spending on judicial elections in the US has soared. Pennsylvania Complex campaign finance laws That makes it difficult to track spending, but Douglas Keith, deputy director of the Brennan Center’s Judicial Program, estimates that roughly $15 million to $16 million has already been pumped into the Pennsylvania race. Much of that money has gone to ads promoting the court’s role in determining abortion rights.
“The messaging in this race is nothing like what we saw in judicial elections before Dobbs,” Keith said, referring to Dobbs v. Women’s Health of Jackson, the Supreme Court case that overturned Roe. “You see it in TV ads from groups that support judges and from judges themselves. You see it in mailers.”
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has jumped into the abortion debate at least once in modern history: in 2024, The judges ruled That the state’s ban on using Medicaid to pay for abortions is sex discrimination and therefore unconstitutional under Pennsylvania’s Equal Rights Amendment.
Virginia
Republican Winsome Earl Sears, the current lieutenant governor of Virginia, and Democrat Abigail Spanberger, a former representative, are now competing to become the state’s first female governor. As the last state in the southern United States without a post-Roe abortion ban, Virginia has become a haven for abortion clinics.
He supported Spanberger Virginia’s current abortion laws allow the procedure up to the 27th week of pregnancy. She also publicly advocated for an amendment to the Virginia Constitution that would protect abortion rights, which the state General Assembly has already passed once. This amendment must be approved by the General Assembly again before voters can have their say.
As lieutenant governor, Earl Sears is legally required to sign bills passed by the Legislature, including the abortion rights amendment. But when she signed it, she said She added a handwritten note It read: “I oppose this bill morally, and there is no protection for the child.” During her 2021 race for lieutenant governor, Earl Sears said in an interview It considers abortion “genocide” and wants to make abortion illegal except in cases where the mother’s life is in danger.
In it One-on-one discussion with SpanbergerHowever, Earl Sears said her personal stance on abortion doesn’t matter.
“The commonwealth needs to work together and figure out where it wants to be,” Earl Sears said. “That will not be my view. It will be the majority view.”
All 100 seats in the Virginia House of Representatives will also be contested this year. In order to get the abortion rights amendment to voters in 2026, Democrats must hold on to their majority in the House. Recent polls showed Earl Sears trails Spanberger by seven points.