Abortion could drive Texas women to the polls - Axios AustinLog InLog InAxios Austin is an Axios company.

Abortion could drive Texas women to the polls

Illustration: Axios Visuals The could make November complicated for Gov. Greg Abbott and Texas Republicans. Driving the news: Tom Bonier — a Democratic strategist and CEO of TargetSmart, a data and polling firm — , fired up by the U.S. Supreme Court's Dobbs decision, could swamp GOP hopes of a red wave in November's midterms."In my 28 years analyzing elections, I've never seen anything like what's happened in the past two months in American politics: Women are registering to vote in numbers I've never witnessed," Bonier writes in a New York Times . By the numbers: More than 309,000 Texans either registered for the first time or updated their voter registration in the roughly two months between when the Dobbs decision came down and late August, per the Texas Secretary of State's office. Just under half of those were women, but voters are not required to disclose their gender.Registrations were relatively flat before the Dobbs decision, with total registration hovering around 17.2 million voters in Texas.Women have outnumbered men at the Texas polls in the presidential and midterm elections since at least 2014, per data compiled . Catch up quick: Texas' so-called made abortion — including for survivors of rape and incest — illegal in the state.Over the weekend, Abbott attempted to ease voters' minds, can instead take the emergency contraceptive Plan B. "We want to support those victims, but also those victims can access health care immediately, as well as to report it," Abbott told and KXAS-TV. Democrat Beto O'Rourke's gubernatorial campaign quickly wrapped Abbott's remarks into a Tuesday, calling it a "cruel message" to victims. Of note: Emergency contraception is less effective for those over 165 pounds, and must be taken within 24 hours of sex to be most effective. Zoom in: Both parties are working to win over women voters in Texas.O'Rourke last month criticizing Abbott over abortion.Meanwhile, Abbott joined in supporting the repeal of the sales tax on feminine hygiene products. Zoom out: The states with the biggest surges in women registering after the Supreme Court decision were deep-red Kansas, where abortion rights triumphed in a last month, and Idaho, Bonier writes.Key battleground states also showed large increases, including Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and Ohio, which are all facing statewide races in which the fate of abortion access could be decided in November.The New York Times that in 10 states with available voter registration data, the number of women registering to vote rose by about 35% after the decision, compared with the month before the leak of a draft opinion. Men ticked up by 9%. The bottom line: Texas remains pretty darn red.Although a majority of Texas voters on abortions, redistricting has helped Get more local stories in your inbox with .Subscribe Support local journalism by becoming a member.

More Austin stories

No stories could be found Get a free daily digest of the most important news in your backyard with Axios Austin.Subscribe Support local journalism by becoming a member.