Abortion a key issue for voters ahead of US election

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00:00The United States is just hours away from a crucial campaign moment.

00:08At 9 p.m. in Philadelphia, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris will take the stage for their

00:12first and likely only presidential debate.

00:15Debates aren't always electoral game changers, but the last one did mark the beginning of

00:19the end for Joe Biden's campaign.

00:22As in that debate, Harris and Trump's microphones will be muted when the other is speaking,

00:26just one of the many carefully negotiated conditions.

00:30The showdown will last for 90 minutes with no live audience and no prepared notes.

00:37One issue that is sure to come up is abortion.

00:39Since the Supreme Court overturned the federal right to the procedure, abortion restrictions

00:44and bans have taken effect in more than 20 states.

00:47As Monty Francis explains, the issue is a galvanizing one for Democrats and leaves Donald

00:51Trump and the Republicans vulnerable.

00:57American voters went to the polls in 2022 and 2023 and delivered victories for Democrats

01:03in major races across the country by putting abortion rights at the center of their campaigns.

01:11Democrats are hoping it works again in 2024, with polls showing overwhelming support for

01:16legalizing abortion.

01:19A vast majority of Americans, or 63 percent, say the procedure should be legal in all or

01:24most cases, while 36 percent say it should be illegal.

01:31The issue has left Donald Trump in a political conundrum.

01:35He proudly takes credit for naming Supreme Court justices who struck down Roe v. Wade.

01:40And his running mate, J.D. Vance, supports a national ban on abortion, even in cases

01:45of rape and incest.

01:47But Trump himself has taken a step back, leading the Republican Party to soften its

01:52platform and adopt his belief that the issue should be left up to individual states.

01:58The states will determine by vote or legislation or perhaps both, and whatever they decide

02:04must be the law of the land, in this case, the law of the state.

02:09Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, more than 20 states have passed

02:14laws restricting or banning abortion, particularly in the South.

02:19Last November, voters in Ohio turned out in big numbers to enshrine a right to abortion

02:24in the state constitution by a double-digit margin, overturning an abortion ban passed

02:29by the Republican legislature.

02:32Democrats see it as a sign of Trump's vulnerability, and a state he won twice, in 2016 and in 2020,

02:39and also as a winning issue in Democratic races across the board.

02:46To truly protect reproductive freedoms, we must restore the protections of Roe.

02:54Because, you see, what the United States Supreme Court took, Congress can put back in place.

03:02A poll in The Wall Street Journal showed that abortion is the number one issue for a majority

03:06of suburban women in swing states.

03:10Several states have pro-choice measures on the November ballot, which Democrats hope

03:14will drive turnout and help them win the White House.

03:19For more on the issue of abortion rights and what to expect at tonight's debate, I'm joined

03:23on set by Monty Francis.

03:24Hello, Monty.

03:25Hi, Allison.

03:26Monty, Donald Trump has made a lot of conflicting statements when it comes to abortion.

03:31What exactly is his position on the issue?

03:33Well, there's this critique of the media that we can listen to, you know, a two-hour rambling

03:37speech of Trump and then distill it into something coherent, when much of it really is incoherent.

03:42And it has to be said that on this issue of abortion, Donald Trump has really been all

03:46over the map.

03:48There isn't really a coherent message here from his campaign.

03:51Let me just give you an example of what I'm talking about.

03:54Last month, he said as a resident of Florida, he would vote for a measure that would allow

03:58abortion for up to 24 weeks of pregnancy.

04:01The very next day, he told Fox News he would vote against that measure.

04:05So he has also said on social media that his administration would be, quote, great for

04:09reproductive rights.

04:11That raised a lot of eyebrows because he's using, you know, terminology that is not really

04:15used by the anti-abortion movement.

04:17And it wasn't even really clear what he meant by that.

04:21He's really trying to play, I think, to a lot of audiences here.

04:23So I think it's important to not really focus on what he's saying here, but what his record

04:28is.

04:29And as we saw in the piece during his first term, he nominated three conservative justices

04:34who helped overturn Roe v. Wade.

04:36He said he was proud of doing that.

04:38He's bragged about his part in doing that.

04:40And despite all of these comments as of late, it's safe to say that he has been a champion

04:45of the anti-abortion movement.

04:48One thing I expect that will come up in the debate tonight is whether he supports a national

04:52ban on abortion.

04:53A lot of Republicans have been pushing for this.

04:55J.D. Vance supports it.

04:56He has said in the past that he does not support that.

04:59He thinks this should be left up to the states.

05:02And another thing to watch for, I think, is something that came up during that first debate

05:05with Joe Biden, which is this absolutely false claim that Democrats support what he called

05:11abortion after birth, that essentially executing newborn babies.

05:17Of course, this is something that is not happening and was not fact-checked during that first

05:21debate.

05:22Yeah, like ludicrous comments sometimes coming from Donald Trump.

05:25It'll be interesting to see if he clarifies anything tonight.

05:27Meanwhile, what do we expect to hear from Kamala Harris about abortion?

05:31Well, so polls show that for women under the age of 45, abortion really is the top issue

05:36for them going into this election.

05:37So I expect Kamala Harris will really try to capitalize on that.

05:41You know, the bottom line here is this is seen as a winning issue for Democrats, a losing

05:45issue for Republicans.

05:47On the campaign trail, she has blamed Trump for eroding abortion rights.

05:52She has said Donald Trump did this.

05:54She refers to abortion restrictions that have been passed in more than 20 states as, you

05:58know, Trump abortion bans.

06:00She also blames him for these legal challenges to in vitro fertilization and accuses him

06:05of wanting to ban the Mifepristone, the abortion pill, which is part of the Project 2025 agenda

06:12written up by Trump supporters.

06:15When it comes to Harris as a candidate, she is seen as a more effective messenger on this

06:18issue than Joe Biden.

06:19You know, Joe Biden is an 81-year-old Irish Catholic.

06:23He's reluctant to even say the word abortion.

06:26This isn't a subject that Kamala Harris feels very comfortable talking about.

06:30Back in March, she became the first vice president or president to visit an abortion clinic.

06:36And she has promised that if she's elected, she would push for a federal law that would

06:39legalize abortion across the country.

06:42And meanwhile, Monty, abortion is actually on the ballot in a number of states that are

06:45deciding at the local level what the future of abortion access is going to be.

06:49How is that expected to impact the national race?

06:52Yeah.

06:53So there are 10 states in total with abortion measures on the ballot in November.

06:56So five red-leaning states, three blue-leaning states, and then two crucial swing states.

07:01Those two swing states are Arizona and Nevada.

07:04So Democrats are hoping that this affects turnout of pro-choice voters, especially in

07:10those very crucial swing states.

07:11All right.

07:12It's going to be interesting to see what happens.

07:14Finally, Monty, the microphones are going to be turned off when the other candidate

07:18is speaking during tonight's debate.

07:21Now, that was something that the Harris campaign had really fought to change.

07:24Why is that?

07:25That's because in past debates, Kamala Harris has seen as being very effective and sort

07:29of fact-checking her opponent in real time.

07:32That won't be possible tonight because her microphone will be off when Donald Trump is

07:35speaking and vice versa.

07:37You know, those were the original rules when the candidates were Joe Biden and Donald Trump.

07:42The Harris campaign sought to change that.

07:45Donald Trump initially sort of agreed to it and then not.

07:48And then there was some back and forth between the two campaigns and then ABC, which is hosting

07:51the debate, ultimately decided that they were just going to keep the original rules.

07:55So the mics will be turned off when the other person is speaking.

08:00Also important to note, there will not be a live audience.

08:03And with just two months to go, there's a lot of pressure for both of these candidates

08:06to really deliver a knockout performance.

08:08Yeah, I know.

08:09I definitely am very interested to watch.

08:12Monty, thank you so much for that.

08:13That's France 24's Monty Francis there.

08:16And if you want to watch the debate, it is being moderated and broadcast in the U.S.

08:20by ABC News.

08:21But you can also catch it live here on France 24.

08:25It begins at 9 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, 3 a.m. Wednesday here in Paris.

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