Just under a week until Election Day, early voting is underway across the country, and punditry abounds. Here are the three things foremost on my mind as I head to the polls.
Direct democracy matters and reproductive rights and bodily autonomy are on the ballot. With more than 140 measures in 40 states this year, among the ones I am watching are those focused on securing expanded rights: Idaho voters will decide whether to overturn the state’s total abortion ban and establish a right to reproductive freedom and privacy; in Nevada and Virginia, voters have the opportunity to enshrine abortion rights in their state constitutions; and Vermont is poised to add an equal rights amendment to the state constitution — to prohibit unequal treatment “on account of a person’s race, ethnicity, sex, religion, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or national origin.”
Meanwhile, a Republican-backed measure in Missouri seeks to undo a 2024 citizen-led amendment that repealed the state’s restrictive abortion laws; the measure also targets transgender people and aims to create new limits on gender-affirming care in the state by banning surgery, hormone therapy, and puberty blockers for minors. Washington and Nebraska will vote on measures to ban transgender athletes from participating on girls’ and women’s sports teams; Washington also would require all K-12 students who want to play girls’ or women’s sports, whether they identify as trans or not, to have their sex verified by a doctor. Arizona and Colorado each have anti-trans ballot measures that would apply to all sports teams; Arizona’s would also ban schools from allowing trans minors or adults to access sex-designated bathrooms and locker rooms. And Colorado has a separate measure to ban gender-affirming surgeries for minors.
In Virginia, a measure seeking to establish an affirmative right to marriage regardless of sex, gender or race is on the ballot, which would repeal language in the state constitution barring same-sex marriage. Note: The ban has been unenforceable since 2015, when the Supreme Court established a federal right to marry for same-sex couples; no doubt, the proactive move here to rid the state of the legislative language is a signal of what is down the pike.
That said, all of our votes impact these issues, up and down the ballot. Yes, Congressional races are capturing the bulk of the public’s attention, for good reason. But make no mistake, midterms and off-year elections are often when less-visible but high-impact races unfold, which also need our votes.
This includes state and local law enforcement. I’ve been poring over staggering new statistics on pregnancy criminalization rates released last week by the nonprofit Pregnancy Justice. From 2022 — when Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization was decided — to 2025, more than 900 criminal cases were initiated in 23 states. That translates to a prosecutor charging a woman with crimes related to pregnancy outcomes almost every single day. Often for miscarriage and stillbirths, but not seeking prenatal care was also considered evidence of a crime. Most of these cases fly beneath the radar because they do not rely on abortion laws but rather leverage child abuse, neglect, and endangerment statutes. (As noted by The Meteor about the surge: “For scale, 1,809 such cases were documented in the entire 50 years that Roe v. Wade was the law of the land.”)
It is chilling and horrifying — and also why we must vote down the ballot. For example, there are roughly 2,400 elections for prosecutor and sheriff in 2026; check out this database to see if your state or county is on the list.
[Speaking of prosecutors: I was recently trying to describe the feeling of relief I had a few weeks ago when New York Gov. Kathy Hochul assigned the state attorney general, Letitia James, to take over the criminal investigation of the Cornell University fraternity brothers accused of raping a fellow student. Seeing myself reflected in the leaders in charge reminded me that representation is a real value.]
Don’t let anyone tell you that women’s health is niche or that you’re a “single issue voter” if it is your priority. It an economic issue, a “kitchen table” issue, a democracy issue — from the soaring cost of medical care and inadequate health insurance system to the dearth of scientific research that centers and studies women. Our health is about far more than reproduction (though abortion is a pretty telling litmus test). This reporting by a local Texas news site summed up the intersection perfectly: “Affordability, health care access and personal autonomy could be key issues influencing Texas women voters as candidates prepare for November’s elections … [who] could play a decisive role in the state’s political future, particularly as candidates compete for support from voters who are not firmly aligned with either political party.”
We’ve got our work cut out for us on the other side of November 3. For now, let’s keep rallying the troops and get out the vote.
Jennifer Weiss-Wolf is executive director of the Birnbaum Women’s Leadership Center at NYU School of Law. She also leads strategy and partnerships at Ms. Magazine.
Thanks for pointing out this information regarding pregnancy criminalization and other horrific issues that affect women and why we need to vote up and down the ballot.