Politics
Column: Will abortion rights boost Biden and fellow Democrats? Arizona offers a test case
On a recent sunny morning, Riley Heesch stopped outside a coffee shop and signed her name to a petition aimed at putting the abortion issue on Arizona’s November ballot.
She was glad to do so.
“I am really passionate about abortion access,” Heesch said. “It is, especially in Arizona, something that’s being threatened and it shouldn’t be. It needs to be available to everyone and anyone that needs it.”
But her passion fizzled when it came to the presidential race.
The 22-year-old childcare worker, who just graduated from Arizona State University in Tempe, has paid little mind to the contest. And while she definitely won’t back Donald Trump, she’s not at all certain she’ll support Joe Biden, as she did in 2020.
She couldn’t say why. “Maybe he’s not the best candidate?” Heesch ventured, before tepidly pledging a maybe-vote for the president.
“I will if I have to,” she said. “I think.”
As Biden battles for a second term, he’s counting on reluctant voters like Heesch to eventually come around — and ballot measures like the abortion rights initiative in Arizona to help prod them in his direction.
Ever since the Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade, and with it a 50-year-old constitutional right to abortion, the issue has played to Democrats’ considerable advantage.
It helped the party avoid a widely predicted wipeout in the 2022 midterm elections and has also forced Republicans, including Trump, to contort themselves as they try to satisfy social conservatives without alienating the majority of Americans who believe abortion should be legal in most cases.
Voters in seven states — including such GOP strongholds as Kansas, Kentucky and Montana — have either upheld abortion rights at the ballot box or rejected efforts to restrict access.
The issue has yet to be tested, however, in a presidential election year, when turnout will be significantly higher and any number of issues — the economy, border security, the war in Gaza — will compete for voters’ attention.
That doesn’t diminish the importance of the abortion issue. “It’s just a matter of priorities, given all the other ones that matter,” said Republican pollster David Winston.
Nearly a dozen states could have abortion rights initiatives on their ballot in November. (Efforts to place antiabortion measures before voters in Iowa and Pennsylvania fell short.)
Democratic strategists see the issue as vital not just to keeping hold of the White House, but boosting their candidates for Congress and statehouses across the country, in part by engaging voters — in particular Democrats and independents — who might otherwise sit out the election.
“I hear all the arguments about the border and immigration and the economy,” said Mini Tammaraju, president of Reproductive Freedom for All, a national abortion rights organization. “But we can motivate voters on this issue and we can motivate young voters who are, frankly, a little disaffected right now and don’t feel like they’re being listened to.”
Most of the abortion measures that have reached the ballot, or might, are in states such as Maryland, New York and South Dakota that are not seriously contested in the presidential race.
In Florida, voters will decide whether to repeal a six-week abortion ban and codify a right to abortion in the state’s constitution. But Florida is no longer the political battleground it was, having moved decisively toward Republicans in recent years. It is only marginally competitive in November.
That leaves two important swing states, Arizona and Nevada, where Democrats hope abortion rights and measures enshrining them into law will help put Biden over the top.
Both were narrowly decided in 2020, but Arizona was the closer of the two; Biden won by fewer than 11,000 votes, a margin of 0.3%.
The state has since become a focal point of the abortion debate, after its Supreme Court upheld an 1864 law imposing a near-total ban. (Bowing to pressure, the Republican-run Legislature passed a measure defaulting to a 15-week limit, with few exceptions. It was swiftly signed into law by Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs.)
The court’s decision “rocked the body politic,” said Stan Barnes, a GOP strategist in Phoenix, and gave a big boost to Democrats up and down the ballot — though he expects the sentiment to dissipate by fall.
Chuck Coughlin, an independent pollster in Phoenix, isn’t so sure.
The abortion issue “unquestionably helps Democrats” as a “motivational thing to turn people out and hang around [Trump’s] neck,” said Coughlin, who used to work for Republicans but left the party after Trump’s election.
“It’s a major tsunami in American political life to take away a right that people have assumed they’ve had,” Coughlin said. “And so the electoral response is, ‘Get your government off my body!’”
On the far north side of Phoenix, where scraps of desert are still visible amid the relentless urban sprawl, Ruth Lambert was collecting signatures to put the abortion question before voters.
It was already nearing 80 degrees at 8:30 in the morning and Lambert was seated in the corner of a strip mall, sheltered beneath the partial shade of a palo verde tree.
The 73-year-old retiree moved to Arizona in 2004, just as her daughter was about to give birth. That grandchild is now 20, Lambert said, and “can’t wrap her head around” the countrywide rollback of abortion rights.
“It’s almost like a foreign concept,” said Lambert, who has volunteered for the initiative campaign since September.
She’s surprised at how easy it’s been gathering support — organizers expect to turn in the most signatures in state history — and struck by the number of Republicans and self-described conservatives who’ve affixed their names to petitions.
“I really don’t like to talk party. It’s good policy,” Lambert said of the Arizona Abortion Access Act, as the measure is formally known. “It’s not necessarily political.”
Proponents of an abortion rights initiative expect to turn in the most signatures gathered in Arizona history. The question is whether the measure can survive an anticipated legal challenge.
(Mark Z. Barabak / Los Angeles Times)
But, of course, it very much is. The ballot measure engenders strong resistance from abortion opponents and others who feel it goes too far.
The initiative would amend the state constitution to ensure a “fundamental right” to abortion until fetal viability — or roughly the 24th week of pregnancy — and beyond that if a healthcare professional deemed it necessary to “protect the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant individual.”
Opponents say that would amount to abortion on demand and that is why Coughlin, among others, intends to vote against the initiative — provided it makes the ballot.
That is by no means certain.
After Arizona voters passed a 2016 measure raising the minimum wage, Republican lawmakers pushed through legislation making it much tougher to qualify ballot initiatives, imposing a number of nitpicky rules.
If, for instance, a signature on a petition extends into the one below, both can be disqualified. If someone who is registered to vote as “Jonathan” signs their name “John,” that, too, can be rejected.
And so on.
Organizers say they have already collected well in excess of the roughly 400,000 signatures needed to make the ballot, with more than a month left before the July 3 deadline. The cutoff to start printing ballots is late August.
That opens up “a seven-week gauntlet where every imaginable line on the petition sheets will be challenged,” said Stacy Pearson, a Democratic strategist who has run several initiative campaigns. The final arbiter will the same conservative-leaning Supreme Court that upheld the Civil War-era abortion law.
Polling suggests if the initiative makes the ballot, it will likely pass. And it would probably help Biden and boost the rest of the Democratic ticket at least some.
While abortion may not be top of the mind for most voters, the issue could engage those like Heesch, the 22-year-old childcare worker who otherwise has little use for the president.
“In a lot of ways, Democrats are going to be fighting against the couch” — that is the stay-at-home indifference of voters the party is counting on, said pollster Natalie Jackson.
“In a close election, you’d rather be on the side of the vast majority of the population,” said Jackson, a Democrat who has extensively researched attitudes on abortion. While it won’t be “the top driver” for most, Biden would definitely rather have “the issue at his back.”
It could make all the difference.
“It will be my job, if confirmed as attorney general, to make those decisions. Politics will not play a part. I’ve demonstrated that my entire career as a prosecutor.” “You joined Mr. Trump in working to overturn the 2020 election. You’ve repeatedly described investigations and prosecutions of Mr. Trump as witch hunts, and you have echoed his calls for investigating and prosecuting his political opponents. This flies in the face of evidence. These are the kinds of anti-democratic efforts that in the past you have defended. And it’s critical that we understand whether you remain supportive of Mr. Trump’s actions.” “What would you do if your career, D.O.J. prosecutors, came to you with a case to prosecute — grounded in the facts and law — but the White House directs you to drop the case?” “Senator, if I thought that would happen, I would not be sitting here today.” “But let’s imagine that once again President-elect Trump issues a directive or order to you or to the F.B.I. director that is outside the boundaries of ethics or law. What will you do?” “Senator, I will never speak on a hypothetical, especially one saying that the president would do something illegal.” “Weaponization of the Justice Department may well occur under your tenure, and we want to make sure that that’s not the case, that you remain independent, that you remain able to and willing to tell the president no when that’s necessary to protect the Constitution and the integrity of the Department.” “I think that is the whole problem with the weaponization that we have seen the last four years and what’s been happening to Donald Trump. They targeted his campaign. They have launched countless investigations against him. That will not be the case. If I am attorney general, I will not politicize that office. I will not target people simply because of their political affiliation. Justice will be administered even handedly throughout this country.” “Who won the 2020 presidential election?” “Joe Biden is the president of the United States.” “Ms. Bondi did you know that there is a difference between acknowledging it? And I can say that Donald Trump won the 2024 election. I may not like it, but I can say it.” “As the Florida attorney general, Ms. Bondi achieved numerous successes. She engaged in key initiatives to fight human trafficking, countered the opioid epidemic and protect consumers and protect the citizens of Florida from violence.” “Will you do everything within your power as attorney general to enforce the laws on the books, including the president’s executive orders, and help do everything you can in the Department of Justice to restore security to our southern border?” “Yes, senator. Absolutely.”
President Biden is ending his tenure in the White House on a “sad” note after “lying to the nation” and taking credit for a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas during his farewell address on Wednesday evening, a Trump transition official said.
“Joe Biden is going out sad. Lying to the nation trying to take credit for a deal that all parties credit President Trump for making happen. Biden has had well over a year to secure the release of these hostages and peace. He failed. Trump succeeded,” a Trump transition official told Fox News Digital on Wednesday evening.
War has raged in the Middle East since October of 2023, with Israel and Hamas coming to a ceasefire agreement on Wednesday that also ensured the release of hostages.
Biden delivered his final address to the nation on Wednesday evening, where he took a victory lap for the cease fire in his opening remarks.
BIDEN TAKES SOLE CREDIT FOR ISRAEL-HAMAS DEAL, WARNS OF ‘OLIGARCHY’ THREATENING DEMOCRACY IN FAREWELL SPEECH
Left: President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the latest developments in Syria from the Roosevelt Room of the White House on Dec. 8, 2024 in Washington, D.C.; Right: President-Elect Donald Trump reacts during his meeting with Prince William, Prince of Wales at the Embassy of the United Kingdom’s Residence on December 7, 2024 in Paris, France. (Left: Pete Marovich/Getty Images; Right: Oleg Nikishin/Getty Images)
“My fellow Americans, I’m speaking to you tonight from the Oval Office. Before I begin, let me speak to important news from earlier today. After eight months of nonstop negotiation, my administration – by my administration – a cease-fire and hostage deal has been reached by Israel and Hamas. The elements of which I laid out in great detail in May of this year,” Biden said.
President Joe Biden speaks from the Oval Office of the White House as he gives his farewell address Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025, in Washington. (Mandel Ngan/Pool via AP)
“This plan was developed and negotiated by my team, and will be largely implemented by the incoming administration. That’s why I told my team to keep the incoming administration fully informed, because that’s how it should be, working together as Americans,” he continued.
PRESIDENT BIDEN RELEASES FAREWELL LETTER, SAYS IT’S BEEN ‘PRIVILEGE OF MY LIFE TO SERVE THIS NATION’
Former US President Donald Trump (L) shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) as they pose for a photo during their meeting at Mar-a-Lago estate, in Palm Beach, Florida, United States on July 26, 2024. (Amos Ben-Gershom (GPO) / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Credit for reaching the agreement, however, was bolstered by the incoming Trump administration, according to sources who told Fox Digital that a recent meeting between Trump’s incoming Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly played a pivotal role in the deal.
FOX NEWS GETS AN INSIDE LOOK AT IDF’S WAR AGAINST HAMAS
Netanyahu also thanked Trump on Wednesday for “his assistance in advancing the release of the hostages.”
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke this evening with US President-elect Donald Trump and thanked him for his assistance in advancing the release of the hostages and for helping Israel bring an end to the suffering of dozens of hostages and their families,” the official Prime Minister of Israel X account posted.
Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepts rockets, as seen from Ashkelon, Israel, October 1, 2024. (REUTERS/Amir Cohen)
“The Prime Minister made it clear that he is committed to returning all of the hostages however he can, and commended the US President-elect for his remarks that the US would work with Israel to ensure that Gaza will never be a haven for terrorism.”
The X account added later: “Prime Minister Netanyahu then spoke with US President Joe Biden and thanked him as well for his assistance in advancing the hostages deal.”
ISRAEL-HAMAS CEASE-FIRE, HOSTAGE RELEASE DEAL REACHED: ‘AMERICANS WILL BE PART OF THAT’
When asked who the history books would remember for championing the ceasefire deal earlier Wednesday, Biden balked at the suggestion Trump and his team spearheaded the effort.
“Who in the history books gets credit for this, Mr. President, you or Trump?” Fox News’ Jacqui Heinrich asked Biden at Wednesday afternoon’s White House news conference.
“Is that a joke?” the president responded.
“Oh. Thank you,” Biden responded when Heinrich said it was not a joke, and then walked away.
WASHINGTON — Once a bitter critic of President-elect Donald Trump, Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida headed into his first Senate hearing Wednesday as nominee for secretary of State.
Rubio, with extensive experience on Capitol Hill and in foreign policy circles, appears to be the least controversial in Trump’s list of Cabinet picks, many of whom lack the credentials or background usually associated with their nominated jobs.
A foreign policy hawk — especially on China — Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, seemed likely to win easy bipartisan approval. On Wednesday, he faced the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on which he has served for 14 years.
If confirmed as expected, Rubio will be the first Latino to serve as America’s top diplomat.
In the past, Rubio largely hewed to long-standing Republican views on a multi-lateral approach to the world, embracing allies and united action. On Wednesday, he echoed Trump’s “America first” philosophy.
His State Department, Rubio testified, will be guided by a singular objective “to promote peace abroad, and security and prosperity here at home.”
“Placing our core national interests above all else is not isolationism,” Rubio said. “The postwar global order is not just obsolete; it is now a weapon being used against us.”
China, he said, is the “most potent” enemy the United States has ever faced, its “near peer” on many fronts, including technology, economy and diplomatic muscle.
“We’ve allowed them to get away with things …. and now we are dealing with the ramifications of that,” he said, advocating the U.S. must fortify its own industrial and supply chain capabilities to prevent “total dependence … from our security to our health” on the communist-led nation.
Rubio, who recently voted against an aid package for Ukraine, echoed Trump in saying Kyiv’s war with Russia had to come to an end. “There will have to be concessions made” by both Russia and Ukraine, he said. Many observers worry that Trump’s affinity for Russian President Vladimir Putin will lead to him demanding more sacrifice from Ukraine in any peace negotiation.
The hearing was interrupted by protesters; Rubio quipped that at least he gets bilingual demonstrators.
But overall, the mood among the senators was friendly and lacked the confrontations of the previous day’s hearing of Fox TV commentator Pete Hegseth, whom Trump has nominated to be secretary of Defense. Senators questioned Hegseth about his experience, drinking, position on women in combat roles and allegations of sexual assault, which he has denied.
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