How ruling against Roe helped push back a GOP 'red wave'

Earlier this year, after a tectonic decision by the US supreme court to overturn Roe v Wade, eliminating the nearly 50-year constitutional right to abortion, Joe Biden predicted American women would revolt.

- Lauren Gambino

Republicans saw a "red wave" brewing, fuelled by economic discontent and the president's low approval ratings.

Last Thursday, after Democrats defied expectations in the first major election of the post-Roe era, Biden effectively declared: "I told ya so." "Women in America made their voices heard, man," the president told supporters in Washington. "Y'all showed up and beat the hell out of them."

Abortion proved a decisive issue in this year's midterm elections, galvanising women and young people and helping to deliver a string of unexpected gains for Democrats and new protections for reproductive rights. Republicans appear on track to win a far narrower House majority than they hoped, and have fallen short in the Senate.