The 2024 presidential election was the first since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, which protected the national right to abortion.

Gender discrimination was prominent in this election; Polls show Kamala Harris with an advantage among women, while former President Donald Trump has a similar lead among men.

The BBC speaks to female voters in the final days of the campaign about their views on gender and abortion.

Michelle works as a quality engineer in Arizona. The 38-year-old is a registered Republican but plans to vote for Kamala Harris.

I have concerns about women’s rights and women’s healthcare. I’m not a single-issue voter, but this is a huge issue. I work in the medical industry and was personally deeply affected by the overturning of Roe v Wade because I was unable to access many of the medications I needed. Even if they were used for other things… no one was sure what the legality was.

The whole Republican stance is smaller government and not allowing the government to make my personal decisions, so why are they trying to legislate what a woman can do with her body?

(Harris’ presidency) means that everything my parents told me when I was little was true; Just because you’re a girl doesn’t mean you’re limited.

This nurse practitioner from Texas voted for Trump in the last presidential election and plans to support him again.

(Trump) definitely said things he probably shouldn’t have said. Especially as a woman, I should be wagging my finger on this issue, but I have yet to hear anything that would change my mind about my vote.

I don’t vote for personality. I vote for politics. I don’t have to marry that man. I don’t have to deal with it. I have to deal with his policies.

Regarding abortion, (Harris) does not give a pregnancy parameter for how late someone can have an abortion. This cannot be open-ended. I worked as a NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) nurse for 17 years… I care about women’s rights. I care about women. The mother is the first patient. But it’s disturbing to me that he doesn’t respond to this.

This Democrat from Illinois plans to vote for Harris on election day. He previously supported Democrats by voting for Joe Biden in 2020.

I’m certainly concerned about the direction reproductive rights are heading in some parts of the country. I think Trump’s attempts to convey that he understands why (reproductive rights) is an important issue for women fall woefully inadequate.

I think Harris has an innate understanding of the importance of being a woman and a woman of color. Do I want him to lay out some more of his plans to potentially expand reproductive rights? Definitely. But Trump set the bar so low that he could have just kept not mentioning it and still would have been doing a better job.

Just thinking about (Harris’ presidency) brings tears to my eyes. I have a nine-year-old daughter and she is old enough to start having desires and paying attention to the world around her.

This library assistant voted for Trump in 2020, but is currently undecided and is considering “write-in” a candidate, meaning voting for someone who is not officially a candidate.

This isn’t my first rodeo, and I’ve come to a point in my life where I can look beyond the commercials they make for two specific bands.

It’s great that Harris is seriously running for president as a woman, that she’s vice president, and that she has some experience. But I wasn’t too bothered by what Trump did while he was in office.

I don’t mind having a female president, but some of Harris’s political doctrines don’t align with what I think is true.

Angela is a graduate student at Iowa. A Democrat, she supported Biden in the last presidential election and plans to vote for Harris.

I really wish this was a moment of celebration because we elected a woman of color to our highest office, but unfortunately given how tight the election was against Trump and how disappointing (Harris’s) campaign was on some key issues. It has been difficult for me to celebrate as much as I would like.

Obviously abortion is a big issue that needs to be addressed, but I have to say, I’m not very happy with both candidates’ approaches to addressing the issue.

I understand that Harris has a policy of enacting Roe v Wade, but I think women’s rights and issues extend beyond access to abortion. Trump is very lax about women’s rights, so it’s hard to pin him down with any particular attitude.

This retired Republican planning to vote for Trump. He also supported the former president in 2020.

I think (Trump) is really the only possibility because I think Harris is uninformed and incompetent. I think it would be a disaster for this country if she listened to him mutter and ran away. I have a terrible feeling about him.

I’m actually pro-choice within reason. It’s not a late-term abortion. I don’t agree with this. But I think Trump is being sensible by really delegating (the legislation) to the states themselves.

Harris doesn’t have much to stand out for, which is her biggest appeal to women. In other words, she doesn’t have much, which is why she constantly discusses the issue of abortion.

This independent voted for Biden in the 2020 presidential election and voted by mail to support Harris this year.

Women’s reproductive rights are huge to me as a woman, especially living in the state of Florida, where there was a voting amendment that would guarantee the protection of abortion rights.

I really want to support a party that will support reproductive rights for everyone, not just women, because who knows this won’t spread to other places? It usually starts with women but continues.

Our government is at least 50 years behind the times on many issues; especially other countries that are better represented around the world. I have a nephew whom I love very much. It will be huge for her to be able to see (a female president) and for that to be a normal thing for her.

This independent voter from Georgia describes himself as a left-leaning moderate. Because of her faith and anti-abortion views, she is not supporting Harris or Trump this year.

I was actually going to vote for Harris, but then she started insisting on the reproductive health of abortion… I’m a Catholic. I am pro-life.

The problem I had was that I didn’t know how any Catholic could vote for someone who was spreading things like what we saw recently (from Trump) at Madison Square Garden. I take very seriously the commandment to welcome, eat, and dress the stranger.

So under these circumstances there is no one I can vote for.

This retired Texas resident voted for Biden in the last presidential election and voted early to support Harris.

I’m so scared. Actually we can’t go back. This is very scary for me. I had more rights than my grandson will have in the future and that’s not right.

It’s very disturbing that it’s so close. (Trump) is a criminal out on bail. I don’t understand Republicans. They were the so-called law and order (party), and now this.

I think a lot of women (women) come out and say: ‘Why are you telling us what to do with our bodies?’ Abortion is a personal event and the decision depends on the doctor and the woman. This is none of my business.

As we approach election day, BBC Voter Voices is hearing from Americans across the country about what matters to them.

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