Abortion rights in more peril as issue fails to galvanise Voters

Abortion, the issue thought to be the magic bullet that would mortally wound Donald Trump's chances at a second presidency, instead failed to stop him on Tuesday.

- Carter Sherman

Now, two years after a conservative supermajority on the US supreme court ended federal protections for the procedure, American abortion access is facing a new chapter of extraordinary peril.

While seven states passed ballot measures to amend their state constitutions and protect abortion rights, Trump's return to the White House means those hard-fought efforts may amount to nothing. Despite the gridlock in Congress, a nationwide abortion ban could soon become a reality: anti-abortion advocates hope that Trump will resurrect a 19th-century anti-vice law to in effect implement a nationwide ban. Access to other forms of reproductive health care, such as contraception and in vitro fertilisation, are also at risk.

Because he's barred from a third term, Trump can now do whatever he wants without fear of electoral consequences, said Mary Ziegler, a professor at the University of California, Davis who studies the legal history of reproduction.