Reproductive rights Could abortion prove to be the decisive issue?

Leslie Lemus's top issue in the 2024 election is probably the economy. But she has a close second: "Them fucking with abortion." For the 26-year-old Arizona native, the two issues are one and the same.

- Carter Sherman

On Monday she had an abortion at Camelback Family Planning, one of the last abortion clinics in Arizona, in large part because Lemus feels like she can't afford to care for a child right now.

"I look at the world and it's not very pretty. I'm not ready for that yet, to bring a child into the world right now, where the economy is not OK," said Lemus, who added that she lived paycheck to paycheck. Some months, she has to choose between making her car payments and paying off her credit card debt. "Everybody's struggling, left and right," she said.

Lemus is registered to vote in Maricopa county, which is home to 60% of the Arizona electorate and may determine whether Kamala Harris or Donald Trump wins the valuable swing state. Harris has made access to reproductive rights a key part of her policy platform - particularly in contrast to Trump, who appointed three of the US supreme court justices who voted to overturn Roe v Wade and who has toggled between branding himself as a champion of reproductive rights and as "the most pro-life president".

Lemus is a passionate supporter of Harris, who she calls "my homegirl".

A majority of Americans had backed abortion access and Roe v Wade for decades, but it was rarely their top issue in the voting booth. Now that the supreme court has overturned Roe, clearing the way for more than a dozen states to ban almost all abortions and several more to ban it at six, 12 or - as in Arizona - 15 weeks, abortion may become the deciding issue of the 2024 election. It is now the most important issue for women under 45 such as Lemus.