‘My body, my temple’: First-time female Republican voters in Pa. split on the issue of abortion

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While NBC’s final polling as of Nov. 2 shows that Democratic nominee Kamala Harris is ahead of Donald Trump with young voters 57% to 41% and female voters by the same margin, there is still a sizable number of first-time female voters casting their ballots Republican today.

According to Pew Research Center polls released on April 9, 2024, 51% of female voters tilt Democratic; about two-thirds of all voters aged 18-24 lean Democratic. However, 44% of women and 34% of voters under 25 support the GOP. From issues of border control to sex education, WHYY News talked to young women showing up at the polls to mark their support for Republican values.

For Rutgers University sophomore Victoria Sorbat, her vote boils down to the issue of “personal choice.” Sorbat, a native of Bucks County, Pa., was raised in a conservative Christian household in which family values and “trust in God” were emphasized.

“[Republicans] are a party of choice,” she said, explaining that she first became invested in the GOP in 2020 because of their views on a person’s autonomy to not receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

According to Sorbat, her decision to not receive the vaccine also impacted her education.

“I had an issue with registering for classes… because I didn’t have the vaccine,” she said.

Until April 2024, Rutgers mandated that all students be vaccinated against COVID-19, barring religious and medical exemptions.

“I sent [Rutgers] my religious exemption, and they reviewed it and sent it back to me,” she said. “I had to quote [the Bible], like… my body, like my choice. My body, my temple.”

However, vaccination is not the only topic that Sorbat believes people should have the freedom to decide on. Unlike the GOP platform, which maintains a pro-life stance, Sorbat thinks that women should have the right to choose whether or not they want an abortion.

“Like I said…my body’s my temple. I feel like that is very concrete. I do agree with pro-choice on abortion,” said Sorbat.

Similar to Sorbat, Villanova University sophomore Brianna Mollova from East Stroudsburg, Pa., and is registered to vote as a Republican, but still wavers about what party she will support in the Presidential election.

“I focus more on the policies of the party, rather than current politics,” Mollova said. “What [the GOP does] now is not something I fully support as much as, like, the original Republican ideals that they had presented.”

Mollova aligns herself with the Republican values that she learned about during her high school history classes, including a focus on internal affairs, a strong economy and a defensive homeland security. However, she agrees with certain current Democratic values, like pro-choice laws and firearm restrictions.

“I do support the Democratic stance on gun laws and pro choice laws. I support all of the statistics and facts where women should have the ability to have abortions. It’s much safer and healthier for them,” Mollova said. “[Abortion’s] that one policy that I might have to give up… just because there’s other [Democratic] policies that I don’t really agree with. There’s not enough to make me switch over. “

Mollova, who registered to vote earlier this year, said she was not drawn to the Republican party because of a particular candidate, but because she does not support the Biden administration, especially its handling of the U.S. border or its support of Israel.

“I don’t think the current U.S. intervention within the Middle East and Gaza is… something I really favor right now,” Mollova said, noting that she feels as if aid should be turned toward U.S. citizens in need. “I would rather vote for the other party… at least they won’t get involved. They won’t be harming the situation more.”

While young women like Sorbat and Mollova don’t feel connected to every facet of Trump’s platform, some female voters, like West Chester, Pa. native Julia Sadik, staunchly support the GOP candidate.

“I definitely vote pro-life first,” Sadik said. “Trump does not support late-term abortion, and so I will always vote for whoever’s the most conservative when it comes to being pro-life.”

After graduating from Cedarville University in 2023, where she was involved in the school’s Students for Life chapter, Sadik became the Pennsylvania Regional Coordinator for the organization.

“Life is valuable,” she said. “If we’re pronounced dead when our heart stops, why are we not pronounced alive when our hearts begin beating?”

Along with abortion, Sadik is anxious about sex education in classrooms, believing that elementary and middle school students are taught about “birth control and abortion” at too young of an age.

“The left is trying to push Planned Parenthood’s sex education into middle schools,” she said. “We now have children’s books that are all about sex, and it’s like, we do not need to be exposing three-year-old toddlers to this crud, you know?”

Although they differ in their beliefs, all three voters are united on one front: excitement.

“I’m very excited, especially because I’m in a swing state,” Sorbat said. “I’m really hoping to turn Pennsylvania red.”

Mollova said that although she is eager to vote in her first election, she believes that young people need to bring their excitement to every election they will have the opportunity to vote in.

“I feel excited and interested to help within the general elections, but I also think that there should be more emphasis and focus on other elections happening, whether it’s local, state, or federal,” Mollova said. “I think the youth needs to become more familiarized and excited.”