Stamford Advocate | 'Abortion is on the ballot': What's at stake for reproductive rights in Connecticut this November?

By Alex Putterman | Originally Published by the Stamford Advocate

Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in spring 2022, reproductive rights have been at the center of American politics, as states around the country have developed their own set of rules.

Conservative states have pushed for tight restrictions on abortions, while traditionally blue states like Connecticut have raced to implement protections on women's health care. In public referendums, voters have generally voted for greater reproductive rights, leading Democrats to view the issue as a winning one and some Republicans to back off their hard-line stances.

With only weeks until national and statewide elections, abortion again looks to be a key issue motivating voters and shaping campaigns — even in Connecticut where it's highly unlikely to be outlawed any time soon.

At the national level, elections this fall could affect access to abortion drugs across the country. At the state level, legislative races could determine whether or not Connecticut continues advancing abortion protections.

For as much as anti-abortion and abortion-rights advocates disagree on what the laws affecting reproduction should look like, they all seem to agree on one thing: the importance of this election.

"I hope people will vote pro-life," said Peter Wolfgang, executive director of the staunchly anti-abortion Family Institute of Connecticut.

"The stakes of this election when it comes to reproductive freedom have never been higher in all 50 states," said Taylor St. Germain, spokesman for Reproductive Equity Now which advocates for abortion rights. "Including Connecticut."

'Two different futures and visions'

The U.S. presidential election pits an abortion-rights candidate against an opponent whose position on the issue is murky — but who has typically supported restrictions on abortion.

Vice President Kamala Harris, presidential candidate on the Democrat's ticket, has made no secret of her position on reproductive rights: She supports a women's right to seek abortion, opposes any sort of nationwide abortion ban and would gladly sign a bill restoring protections across the nation.

Republican nominee Donald Trump has generally sided with anti-abortion forces, nominating three of the Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade. During the current campaign, Trump has sent mixed signals on the issue, waffling on whether he'd support a constitutional amendment in Florida enshrining abortion rights and declining to say whether he'd sign or veto a nationwide ban.

Yes, either candidate's ability to implement policy around reproductive rights would depend heavily on which party controls Congress, and any federal legislation would likely be modest in the short-term — far short of a nationwide ban or restoration of Roe v. Wade. At the same time, the president can implement policy through federal agencies and appoint justices who shape the nation's laws.

To Gretchen Raffa, an advocate with Planned Parenthood Votes! Connecticut, the race is about "two different futures and visions for America.

"The choice is between Trump and the Project 2025 government that wants to control every aspect of American life, including our bodies and our health," Raffa said, "and a future with Vice President Kamala Harris, where we have control over our own bodies and health care."

So what does all this mean for Connecticut?

St. Germain warns that even without an outright ban on abortion adopted by Congress, Trump could repress abortion nationwide in numerous other ways, some of which are outlined in Project 2025, a collection of right-wing policies designed for a Republican president to implement if elected. Trump has disavowed the initiative, but its authors say they hope he would implement their ideas.

For example, St. Germain says, Trump could appoint officials to lead the Food and Drug Administration who would attempt to limit the use of abortion drugs, or use the 150-year-old Comstock Act to prevent the mailing of those drugs and other materials used for abortions or even preventative birth control.

"Donald Trump and JD Vance pose an existential threat to abortion, access to IVF, to birth control, gender-affirming care and really all forms of reproductive and sexual health care," St. Germain said.

Wolfgang, the anti-abortion advocate, said he wishes Trump were more ardently against abortion and doubts he would prioritize the issue as president. Still, Wolfgang expressed hope the conservative judges Trump might appoint would restrict access to mifepristone, one of two drugs used in medication abortion.

"If that goes back to the U.S. Supreme Court and they rule against those drugs, that would be a big deal because at this point that's how most abortions occur in the United States," Wolfgang said. "That would be a tremendous blow" to the abortion-rights side.

Already, the rollback of abortion access in other states has had consequences for Connecticut. Abortion providers have reported sharp increases in out-of-state patients coming here for health care over the past two years.

At a recent roundtable, Sen. Chris Murphy argued that national policy will continue to have ripple effects in Connecticut.

"There's no way for Connecticut to completely insulate ourselves from this," said Murphy, an abortion-rights Democrat. "There are broader implications."

Stakes in statewide elections

Though the national races, including the presidential contest, get much of the attention, Connecticut voters will also choose in November who to send to the state legislature, where lawmakers have been aggressive in recent years in bolstering abortion protections.

As is the case nationally, Democrats in Connecticut tend to support greater reproductive rights, whereas Republicans support more restrictions on abortion, though that isn't true in every case. State Rep. Treneé McGee, D-West Haven, for example, considers herself anti-abortion, while many Connecticut Republicans are less ardent in their support. 

Wolfgang says he's been frustrated by Republicans' reluctance to oppose abortion, which they seem to consider a losing issue for them politically.

"The Republican Party in Connecticut tends to forfeit the issue," he said. "They refuse to even fight on it, for the most part."

Still, advocates see a significant divide between the two parties. During the current cycle, Planned Parenthood has endorsed 112 candidates for the Connecticut state legislature: 111 Democrats and only one Republican — Sen. Heather Somers of Groton.

The group, Raffa said, "is going to be working very hard in the upcoming months, until Election Day, to ensure that we are electing uncompromising leaders who will defend and protect our health and rights."

Connecticut law has explicitly protected the right to an abortion since 1990, and the Democratic-controlled legislature has passed additional laws in recent years to expand reproductive rights.

In 2022, after news broke that the Supreme Court intended to overturn Roe v. Wade, lawmakers passed a bill making Connecticut a "safe harbor" for women seeking abortions and clinicians providing them. Reproductive rights advocates praised the measure, saying it would increase the number of abortion providers here and ease wait times. 

The state has also permitted pharmacies to prescribe birth control and abortion medication without doctor's order and required public universities to create abortion access plans for students.

Still, abortion-rights advocates say there's more to be done. St. Germain said Connecticut can better protect local providers from prosecution in other states and from professional retribution, as well as remove what she considers "arbitrary restrictions" on abortions late in pregnancies. Raffa said she wants to make sure the state is fully implementing the law passed two years ago.

Wolfgang, meanwhile, says he hopes Republicans and anti-abortion Democrats will fight these policies and roll back some of the existing protections. For starters, he'd like to see a law requiring parents be notified when their underage children seek abortions.

In other words, as St. Germain puts it, "abortion is on the ballot" in just about every race.