Abortion is shaping up to be a major challenge in former President Donald Trump's quest for the White House with nearly 40% of suburban women in swing states citing it as the single most important issue for them, according to a recent Wall Street Journal poll.
The issue is causing trouble for Republicans — even though killing Roe v. Wade was a key goal of the party. Since the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe in 2022, leaving abortion access up to voters almost always results in strong support for abortion rights — even in Republican-dominated states like Kentucky, Kansas and Montana.
While Trump has said he would not sign a national abortion ban if he wins the White House, he has also preened that he's responsible for the "miracle" of the death of Roe v Wade.
Nearly three-quarters of the women in seven battleground states surveyed in the Journal poll said the procedure should be legal all or most of the time — and 57% said that Trump's abortion policies were too restrictive.
Only 20% said that President Joe Biden's didn't go far enough. Roughly half of all the suburban women polled said they believed that Biden's position on abortion was just right.
Biden, a devout Catholic, has made it clear that while he wrestles with abortion on a personal level, he believes that access to reproductive medical care should remain legal and safe for American women to choose.
After abortion, the second-most important issue for suburban women in the WSJ poll was immigration — with 16% citing it as their chief concern — followed by the economy at 7%.
