Heading into the 2024 elections, survey data from Morning Consult shows a substantial advantage for Democrats on the question of trust among Americans to handle health care. A full 46 percent picked Joe Biden over Donald Trump when asked who they’d trust in that policy area, while Congressional Democrats also led Congressional Republicans, with 48 percent of the support to the GOP’s 36 percent.
These levels of indicated support for the Democratic approach suggest the party’s candidates could fare well in forthcoming elections among voters concerned about health care-related issues. While already in power, a clear distinction between the parties’ approaches has been established. The abortion restrictions pursued by Republicans pose threats specifically in situations of complications associated with a pregnancy. Even with exceptions for threats to the life or safety of the pregnant person, problems could mount as the health care staff handling a case grapple with whether it’s serious enough to warrant the exception — leaving the pregnant person suffering.
Details on a steady stream of such cases have circulated since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, setting up the possibility of new abortion restrictions at the level of individual states. Certain pregnant individuals now seeking an abortion may also need to travel — possibly substantial distances — to actually access the procedure as Republicans have clamped down, potentially adding further serious stresses.
That’s not the end, either. Republicans have also repeatedly sought to restrict access to gender-affirming health care, specifically targeting the forms of such care utilized by transgender youth and adults. A set of restrictions in Florida on gender-affirming care that affected both age groups evidently blocked medical personnel other than physicians from providing such care, one of the avenues by which the framework specifically impeded adults. And outright bans affecting transgender young people have been especially consistent, at times blocking expansive demographic groups from care that major medical organizations support.
