When the US supreme court overturned Roe v Wade more than three years ago, unleashing a wave of state-level abortion bans, the justices catapulted abortion rights to the top of US voters’ minds. The issue has dominated every election cycle since – and 2025 is no different.
The gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia could have sweeping consequences for abortion access in two states that have become havens for women fleeing abortion bans. In Pennsylvania, what should have been a relatively sleepy judicial-retention election has evolved into the most expensive race of its kind in nearly 50 years, largely due to heated fighting over abortion. With voters weighing whether to keep three Democratic justices on the state supreme court, advocates fear that liberals may lose control of the bench and, ultimately, lose abortion access in the purple state.
