Women at Harris’ battleground rally in Arizona told the BBC the stakes felt particularly high this year. The state has a question on the ballot that will allow voters to decide whether abortion rights should be enshrined in the state constitution. Abortion is currently illegal after 15 weeks, with few exceptions.
Mary Jelkowski is hoping that putting abortion on the ballot here in Arizona can help bring a blue tide.
Wearing a bright blue sweatshirt emblazoned with the words ‘Vote for your vag’, the 26-year-old told the BBC that she and her husband had started trying to conceive.
She says the idea that it could be forced on someone now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned was hard for her to fathom.
Ms Yelkowska says the Supreme Court decision has opened up important conversations with her friends and family. She says she learned that several loved ones had abortions, including one to save a life.
“It’s personal, but it’s so important to have these conversations,” she says. “For us (women), this election could not be more important.”
Harris’ campaign hopes the abortion issue will not only inspire Democrats to the polls, but also convince Republican women to take the other side. Those “silent” Harris voters, as political scientists like to call them, could help boost her numbers in particularly tight races.
Arizona resident Rebecca Gaw, 53, was a lifelong Republican until Trump ran for president. When she cast her vote for Joe Biden in 2020, she said it was a protest vote. But this time, she says she’s excited to vote for Harris.
“I felt she could represent me as a practical American,” she told the BBC earlier in October.
She said she’s tired of “toxic masculinity,” and she thinks other Republican women feel the same way.
“I don’t care about political beliefs – women are fed up,” she said.
But not all Republican women are convinced of this. Tracy Sorrell, a Texan who is part BBC polling panelsaid she thinks Harris would go too far for abortion rights. In the end, even if she doesn’t like what he says, Ms. Sorrell said she will vote for Trump.
“I don’t vote for an individual. I vote for politics. I don’t need to marry this man,” she said.
With additional reporting by Robin Levinson King and Rachel Luker
