Wall Street Journal Asks 3 Women Over 65 If Abortion Has ‘Faded in Importance’ Before Midterms

The Wall Street Journal released a poll Wednesday showing white suburban ladies have pulled the old switcheroo, just days before Election Day. When compared to the outlet’s last polling in August, suburban white women now favor Republican politicians by 15 points—and the conservative paper of note is using this data to show has “faded in importance” as an issue for Democrats.

To illustrate that the loss of the federal right to an abortion is not that big of a deal, the Journal interviewed three people extremely unlikely to get pregnant and who already lean toward the Republican party when voting: women over 65.

The first interview quoted in this story is Dana Gianassi, a 68-year-old Californian, who is a registered independent who leans Republican. In fact, she’s already voted for a straight Republican ticket in the midterms. “I feel the Democrats are ruining our country,” Gianassi told the paper, saying the gas prices and, as the newspaper put it, “securing the southern border” are her top issues. At least her state is connected to the southern border.

Then there’s Ruth Anne Ramsey, a 76-year-old in Connecticut, who said she’s an independent voter who is leaning toward Republican candidates because of the economy. “I think that the economy is number one in my mind. It’s costing people so much more money to live,” she said. (Though Ramsey did say she trusts Democrats more on social issues…not enough to vote for them, but enough to tell a reporter.)

Finally, they interviewed a Republican who is voting Republican. The exact person who is for sure going to be running from the Democratic Party! Pennsylvanian Susan Smith, 76, said inflation is her biggest issue. “It is impacting us personally. I came out with a few grocery bags and I paid $120,” she told WSJ. “I eat Cheerios every morning, and they’ve doubled in price.”

Apparently this poll found that “a combined 66 percent of white suburban women” say costs of living increases are causing some kind of financial strain in their life, up more than 10 points since last polled in August. But how they are choosing to illustrate the data is telling.

None of the people interviewed in this story are predisposed to care about the legal right to an abortion, either by age and/or party affiliation. The more interesting interview would be to talk to Democratic-leaning independents who are actually abandoning the Democratic party. Instead, I’m treated to three women who cannot become pregnant being used a benchmark for abortion being labeled as a cooled-off issue.