After Suspension of Medication Abortion, HIT Releases Democratic Campaign Memo to Elevate the Abortion Rights Fight to Win in 2024

MEMO: Winning on Abortion: Tactics for Democrats to Respond to Suspension of Medication Abortion and Elevate Abortion Threats Ahead of 2024

Washington, D.C. | April 10 – Today, HIT Strategies, a Democratic public opinion research company, released a memo detailing campaign tactics for Democratic campaigns to elevate the fight for abortion rights ahead of the 2024 election. The memo’s release comes on the heels of a slew of measures to roll back women’s reproductive rights since the fall of Roe V. Wade, including the Friday decision by a Republican-friendly federal judge to suspend access to mifepristone; this medication abortion represents the safest and easiest abortion method.    

Backed by public opinion data, electoral analysis, and post-Roe policy monitoring, the memo offers policy, messaging, and tactical measures to draw attention to a slew of recent threats to abortion access and highlights tested tactics to win on the issue.  

The memo makes several key recommendations, including:  

1. Demonstrate to young voters a commitment to protecting abortion rights by meeting them where they are. HIT data shows young voters of all backgrounds prioritize abortion among issues, and it mobilizes their political engagement.  
   • Talk up instructions on how to skirt abortion bans 
   • Issue position papers detailing how to counteract new abortion restrictions like petitioning the FDA. 
     
2. Put abortion on the ballot. In a handful of states where abortion is restricted, state law allows for citizen-initiated ballot measures to enact abortion protections directly. 
   
3. Appeal to a broad audience by telling personal experiences with abortion and connecting the listeners to real people. The memo provides examples of politicians who best used the tactic.
    
4. Participate in pro-abortion protests, especially at red-state legislatures, when further restrictions are under consideration.
     
5. Define Republicans by their most unpopular policy outcomes, including: 
   • Banning the safest form of abortion in medication abortion. 
   • Forcing children/teens to remain pregnant. 
   • Forcing victims of rape to remain pregnant. 
   • Prohibiting people from crossing state lines for abortion care. 
     
6. Confront Republican misinformation about later-in-pregnancy abortions, affirming that those cases involve serious health complications where women and their doctors should be making the decisions. 

The Memo’s recommendations emerged from nearly three dozen focus groups and six polls with both general population voters and diverse constituencies. Research, electoral analysis, and policy monitoring support each recommendation—demonstrating how each tactic worked in 2022 and can be carried forward ahead of 2024.   

“With a Republican-friendly judge aiming to prevent access to medication abortion, it’s clear that Democrats have to sustain a focus on the abortion fight to win elections and protect against radical threats,” said Roshni Nedungadi, founding partner at HIT Strategies. “By showing the personal impacts of abortion, highlighting the worst policy outcomes, and joining protests, campaigns can carry forward the pro-abortion rights environment of the 2022 election, where 1 in 4 Americans said abortion was their top voting issue.”  

Read Full Memo: Winning on Abortion: Tactics for Democrats to Elevate the Abortion Rights Fight to Win in 2024 and Protect Abortion     

About HIT Strategies 
As Washington’s leading millennial and minority-owned public opinion research company, HIT Strategies helps leaders and organizations translate their target audiences’ values into real-time insights. We understand America’s fastest-growing electorate and consumer groups and specialize in targeting communities under-represented in public opinion data, including Black Americans, Latino Americans, Millennials + Genz, LGBTQ+, Women, Asian Americans, and Pacific Islanders. For more information, visit hitstrat.com and follow @HITStrat on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.    

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