In the midst of one of the most uncertain times in American politics, the 2022 midterm elections saw Gen Zers show up in record-breaking numbers. In what was projected to be a “red wave,” young voters used their votes to advocate for leading issues that have dominated political conversations — including reproductive justice. In September 2022, Her Campus surveyed 1,115 Gen Zers to better understand where they stood on reproductive rights after Roe v. Wade was overturned in June. The data was published right before the midterms, in Her Campus’ November Our Bodies, Our Rights package.
The overturning of Roe v. Wade has played a major role in how Gen Z voted in the midterms. No, really: Her Campus found that 88.2% of surveyees did not agree with SCOTUS’ ruling, and 86.5% said their own personal views on abortion policy would affect how they would vote in the midterms and upcoming presidential elections. Plus, 87% of survey respondents said reproductive issues were one of their top political priorities.
Ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, a projected “red wave” arguably caught the attention of Gen Z voters. Many Republican politicians have advocated for the overturning of Roe v. Wade, which has left many American citizens confused and uncertain about the control they have over their reproductive rights. In our survey, 89.4% of respondents stated they were pro-abortion, and 58.6% believe the government (including the president, Congress, the Supreme Court, and individual states) should not have a role in deciding abortion policy. With these stats, it’s clear that Gen Z is arguably a pro-abortion generation, something that a majority of red candidates do not endorse.
The “red wave” that was predicted prior to the midterm elections has been disproved with a majority of the 2022 election results. A large factor of this theory stemmed from the fact that Democrats hold control of the White House, the Senate, and the House. It’s typical to see the leading party lose some power during the midterm elections, which fed into the wrongly-predicted Republican sweep. Republican-led surveys also predicted this “red wave,” and Gen Z wasn’t going to let that just slide by when critical issues like abortion were on the ballot this year.
According to data generated after the midterms by Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) at Tufts University, 27% of young people aged 18-29 voted in this year’s midterm elections. This number now stands as the second highest showout of young people voting in the midterms, behind only the 2018 elections. It’s clear that the issues being addressed in this year’s election are at the forefront of Gen Z’s minds, and they’re making it known through their vote.
The data from the Our Bodies, Our Rights package shows that Gen Z is becoming increasingly involved in American politics, especially with the shift in the state of reproductive rights. Our Bodies, Our Rights found that many respondents were taking steps to let their opinions about abortion policy be heard, with 60.2% posting abortion resources on their social media, 27.2% donating to an abortion fund, and 14.2% attending in-person protests after the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
The ruling may have led Gen Z to analyze where they stand on the topic of reproductive and abortion rights, with many shifting their previous stances. We found that 12.5% of our Gen Z respondents had altered their beliefs from anti-abortion to pro-abortion. Additionally, 89.4% of respondents were pro-abortion, which outnumbers the findings in our 2017 Our Bodies, Our Rules package that found 75% of respondents were pro-choice.
So even though young voter turnout has historically been so low, Gen Z made it clear they’re not willing to stand down while American politicians propose discriminatory and unconstitutional policies. Gen Z is ready to fight for the causes they believe in, using one of the most powerful tools they possess: their votes.