Guess what, women can vote! Is that why even hardline anti-abortion Republicans are backtracking? | Arwa Mahdawi

In the weeks after Roe v Wade was overturned, there was a huge rush to register to vote. Now rightwing candidates are toning down their rhetoric but history tells us they can't be trusted

Want to know a fun fact about women in the US? They comprise half the population and they've got the right to vote. Pissing them off en masse is a risky political move -as Republicans are quickly finding out. A few months ago it looked like Republicans would decimate the Democrats in the midterm elections in November; now they are on much shakier ground. A recent Wall Street Journal poll found that 60% of voters support abortion rights in most or all cases, and that the supreme court overturning Roe v Wade earlier this year is the single issue most likely to make them vote this November". In the two weeks after Roe was overturned, the number of people registering to vote increased by 10%, new women voters far outnumbering men.

Cue furious back-pedalling from the right on women's rights. Numerous Republican congressional candidates have removed or amended references to abortion from their online profiles in recent months, the Washington Post reports. Colorado state senator Barbara Kirkmeyer, for example, no longer refers to the sanctity of life" on her campaign website. Arizona senate candidate Blake Masters has also been hitting the delete button. In an interview this year with a Catholic news outlet, Masters compared abortion to child sacrifice", saying: It needs to stop." Last month he toned down his language and clarified he simply supports a ban on very late-term and partial-birth abortion". He also amended his website so it no longer proclaims he is 100% pro-life" and instead says: Protect babies, don't let them be killed," followed with: Democrats lie about my views on abortion."

Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist