In the last two federal elections since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Democrats made reproductive rights a key part of their pitch to voters. That messaging dominated campaign airwaves during 2022 and 2024 races, with House and Senate candidates spending more on ads mentioning abortion than any other issue, according to data from AdImpact. But in 2026 that focus is shifting as candidates adapt to what polls show are voter priorities.
Since January, candidates have spent almost four times less on campaign ads about abortion compared to the same period in 2024. The change reflects a broader recalibration within the party heading into midterm elections this fall, with voters consistently ranking cost-of-living concerns as their top issue. Abortion-rights advocates acknowledge it has been difficult to break through on messaging this year amid a crowded news cycle, but argue that calls to protect reproductive access and care must remain part of any political conversation about affordability.
What the Right Is Saying
Republican candidates are largely staying quiet on abortion in their campaign communications this cycle, allowing economic messaging to dominate. The shift follows Republican victories in recent elections where inflation and kitchen-table concerns proved more salient than social issues for many voters.
Susan Collins, the five-term Republican incumbent in Maine facing her first election since Dobbs was overturned, has a complicated record on abortion. She voted to confirm two of President Trump's Supreme Court nominees who later voted to overturn Roe, though she says she supports abortion rights and argued the Dobbs decision was "inconsistent" with what those justices communicated during their confirmation hearings.
Kelly Baden, vice president for public policy at the Guttmacher Institute, a research organization that supports abortion rights, cautioned against reading too much into reduced campaign spending on the issue. "As long as people are still getting abortion care, abortion opponents will keep legislating it at every level and in every courtroom they can to try to stop it," she said. She predicted the issue would remain politically relevant regardless of messaging strategies.
What the Left Is Saying
Mini Timmaraju, president and CEO of Reproductive Freedom for All, argues that reproductive freedom resonates when framed alongside economic concerns. "When you talk about reproductive freedom in the context of the larger crisis in this country around the economy, it resonates," she said. "Most voters who care about reproductive freedom also understand the interconnection between the rising cost of healthcare, the rising costs of childcare, the lack of maternal healthcare in their communities." She added that voters need to hear about these issues together.
Graham Platner, a Democrat running for U.S. Senate in Maine, has linked fertility treatment costs to his broader reproductive rights message. The oyster farmer and veteran and his wife have shared their personal struggle with infertility and the high costs of IVF treatments, which they noted cost tens of thousands of dollars less in other countries. "If you have the right to do something but you can't afford it, you don't actually have access to it," Platner told NPR. "Everyone deserves good, high-quality healthcare, whether that is reproductive healthcare around the beginning of pregnancy or around ending one." He has called for universal healthcare and childcare as part of his platform.
Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., who is running for the open Senate seat in her home state, emphasized that reproductive rights remain central to Democratic messaging even amid economic concerns. "The right to decide when, the right to decide with whom, to start a family, that's an economic issue too," she said. Craig has pledged to vote against Trump's judicial nominees and Cabinet picks with records she describes as anti-abortion.
What the Numbers Show
AdImpact data shows Democrats spent more on campaign ads mentioning abortion than any other issue during the 2022 and 2024 election cycles, a significant shift from prior years when reproductive rights rarely topped ad spending categories.
Currently, 13 states have total abortion bans following the Supreme Court's 2022 Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. However, KFF, a nonpartisan health research organization, reports that the number of abortions in the U.S. has slightly increased since then, due in part to expanded access to medication abortion pills available by mail.
The future of medication abortion access remains uncertain. The Supreme Court last week ordered that the law providing mifepristone by mail stay in place after reviewing a ruling from the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans that would have made it illegal nationwide to mail the drug. Mifepristone remains available via telehealth, though legal battles continue.
The Bottom Line
The reduced emphasis on abortion messaging does not signal Democratic abandonment of the issue, advocates say. Rather, candidates are attempting to weave reproductive rights into broader economic arguments about healthcare access, childcare costs, and family affordability. Whether that framing resonates with voters who rank inflation and kitchen-table concerns as top priorities remains to be seen.
Several closely watched Senate races will test whether abortion can remain politically potent when paired with economic messaging or if it fades in importance amid cost-of-living pressures. Legal battles over mifepristone access continue in federal courts, ensuring the issue may return to campaign forefront regardless of candidates' strategic choices.