Your Vote: Abortion is top of mind for many voters heading into the election

For almost half a century, abortion access was considered a right guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution.

That changed this summer when the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. Suddenly the right to an abortion was no longer nationally protected, and the question of whether and how abortion would be legal became something for individual states to determine.

Now, abortion is illegal in some states and legal in others, including in Minnesota where abortion is protected by the state constitution.

MPR News host Angela Davis talks with a legal historian and a political scientist about how abortion has emerged as one of the top issues for many voters and how it might influence the midterm election.

Guests:

• Mary Ziegler is a professor of law at the University of California, Davis and the author of several books about social movements surrounding reproduction and abortion rights, including “Dollars for Life: The Anti-Abortion Movement and the Fall of the Republican Establishment.”

• Kathryn Pearson is an associate professor of political science at the University of Minnesota.