The structure of the U.S. political system prevents the will of our feminist, multiracial majority from being translated into policies that most Americans want from the government.
After the Supreme Court overturned decades of precedent and ended the constitutional right to abortion, it unleashed a new era of abortion bans in nearly two dozen states. Now even more extreme policies are the new reality—like the Alabama Supreme Court banning IVF. Just last month, the Supreme Court heard arguments on whether people experiencing medical emergencies in states with abortion bans can be blocked from receiving life-saving care. And it’s going to keep getting worse.
Following the Dobbs ruling, abortion advocates turned to ballot initiatives to protect or expand access to abortion in states across the country. These measures are an important way for voters to express their will and secure rights in the face of ongoing attacks. But the fact that voters have to rely on ballot initiatives, rather than being able to rely on their elected representatives, highlights a powerful truth about America today: The structure of our political system prevents the will of our feminist, multiracial majority from being translated into policies—like access to legal abortion—that most Americans want from the government.
Most Americans want abortion to be safe and legal. About two-thirds (65 percent) oppose the 2022 Supreme Court decision in Dobbs, and 62 percent think abortion should be legal in all or most cases. In a functioning democracy, government policies would reflect this popular support. But our political system—our governing institutions and electoral rules—fails to translate the public’s strong support for legal abortion into policy.
Most Americans will live under a state government whose abortion policy does not reflect the will of the majority of the states’ voters.
There are a number of reasons why the political system fails us—from routine voter suppression to weak campaign finance laws, and much more. But the root of the problem is the structural biases at the heart of our outdated political system.
The U.S. Senate is perhaps the most outdated and structurally biased part of our political system—and a key reason abortion policy is so out of step with the views of American voters. Unchanged in structure since it was established in 1787, the Senate hands wildly disproportionate power to smaller, whiter, more conservative states, giving the 579,000 voters in Wyoming the same amount of power as the 39 million in California—a gross violation of the principle of “one person, one vote.”
This unequal structure has real consequences for abortion policy. A study of more than 900 votes between 1961 and 2019 found that the Senate systematically biases policy outcomes toward conservative preferences, including on abortion policy. If the Senate had been reapportioned to more closely align with the basic principle of one person, one vote, abortion bills during this time period would have on average seven more votes in the US Senate–protecting Americans’ freedom, rights, and access to care.
There are systemic biases in state legislatures that make state policy out of step with the public’s support for the right to abortion as well. Research by Jake Grumbach and Christopher Warshaw found that, while a majority of the public supports legal abortion rights in about 40 states, the intentional gerrymandering and structural distortions in our electoral system means that most Americans will live under a state government whose abortion policy does not reflect the will of the majority of the states’ voters.
Our political system’s failure to reflect the strong majority of Americans who support the right to abortion is no accident of history. Despite the changes we’ve made in the past 236 years, our system of government is still based on prejudices, compromises and limits of imagination of that era. It was created by and for wealthy white men whose interests and ideologies would not allow women, anyone who was not white or working class men to participate, at a time when the very idea of self-government meant something far different than what it does today. And now, in 2024, nearly every part of our system of government is structured in ways that prevent popular rule.
Most Americans support the right to abortion. But the fact that we are relying on ballot initiatives to protect and expand abortion access to translate that support into policy—rather than our elected representatives—should call on us to expand our fight. It’s no longer possible for the millions of us who have marched, called and demanded to be seen and heard for decades to operate as if the political system we have now is working. We’re going to need to fix the cracks in the foundation of our political system to secure the rights and freedoms, and have the government, we expect and deserve.
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U.S. democracy is at a dangerous inflection point—from the demise of abortion rights, to a lack of pay equity and parental leave, to skyrocketing maternal mortality, and attacks on trans health. Left unchecked, these crises will lead to wider gaps in political participation and representation. For 50 years, Ms. has been forging feminist journalism—reporting, rebelling and truth-telling from the front-lines, championing the Equal Rights Amendment, and centering the stories of those most impacted. With all that’s at stake for equality, we are redoubling our commitment for the next 50 years. In turn, we need your help, Support Ms. today with a donation—any amount that is meaningful to you. For as little as $5 each month, you’ll receive the print magazine along with our e-newsletters, action alerts, and invitations to Ms. Studios events and podcasts. We are grateful for your loyalty and ferocity.
