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Indiana Democrats unveil Contract with Women in closing weeks of election

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Democrats on Monday announced women’s issues such as abortion and workplace pregnancy protections will top their agenda if voters pick them next month.

Democratic candidates signed copies of the party’s new Contract with Women in an event at the Statehouse. Signatories included U.S. Senate candidate Tom McDermott and all three of the party’s candidates for statewide office, as well as several serving and prospective state lawmakers. The document pledges candidates will back access to abortion services and over-the-counter birth control, workplace protections for pregnant women, creating a statewide pre-K program and eliminating sales taxes on menstrual products.

The state party’s initiative comes as Democrats have begun to slip in the polls nationwide in recent weeks. A New York Times/Siena College poll released Monday gave Republicans a nearly 4-point advantage, mirroring a CNN poll released last week. The latest RealClearPolitics average, which takes into account 10 polls carried out since Oct. 1, gives Republicans a 1.8-point advantage on the generic Congressional ballot and projects a net gain of 2 U.S. Senate seats for the GOP. Polls consistently show the economy and inflation top voters’ minds. In CNN’s latest poll, 9 in 10 voters said the economy played an important role in their ballot choices, though 72 percent named abortion in the same poll.

Republican strategist Ali Bartlett called the Contract with Women a misstep and accused Democrats of treating women as a monolithic voting bloc.

“I think whenever you try to assign beliefs to a certain group of people, whether that’s by race, gender, however you want to look at it, you’re making a misstep in trying to tell people how they should think and how they should feel and who they should vote for,” she said.

Asked whether inflation and the economy would negate any advantage Democrats might enjoy at the polls due to abortion, state Rep. Carey Hamilton, D-Indianapolis, said women recognize many current economic issues have roots that predate the Biden Administration.

“They understand that there’s been a supply chain crisis for a few years now because of the pandemic. All of these things lead to increased prices. And that’s an issue we have to do all we can to deal with,” she said. “But women today fear most for their reproductive freedom, for their basic bodily autonomy in Indiana, for the future of their families. And so that’s why they’re going to show up at the polls and support Democrats this year.”

The state Democratic Party said it will hold events in 14 cities and towns between now and Oct. 28, with local Democratic candidates signing the document at each one.