Online searches for U-Haul services spiked after a report that the Supreme Court is preparing to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling on the right to an abortion, according to an online gambling site.
Google searches for “Uhaul” increased 1,328% over normal from Monday night into Tuesday, according to research by Time2play.com, apparently from Web users researching ways to move out of states that may soon adopt abortion bans.
Searches for U-Haul services in Ohio, which has restrictive abortion laws, jumped 4,900%. In Texas, searches spiked 2,400%, the company said.
States with liberal leadership are vowing to pass laws guaranteeing abortion services if the Supreme Court does overturn Roe and allows individual states to ban or sharply restrict access to abortion. The new ruling in a Mississippi case has not yet been released, but a draft opinion supposedly striking down Roe was leaked Monday night.
The political fallout of the leaked draft opinion, which the Supreme Court acknowledged Tuesday was authentic but said did not necessarily represent the court’s final ruling, could come quickly.
Ohio is holding primary elections on Tuesday, and Democratic Senate candidate Rep. Tim Ryan said in a fundraising email that overturning Roe “would be catastrophic for Ohio.”
“Republicans have introduced one extreme proposal after another to ban abortion before most women even know they’re pregnant,” Mr. Ryan said. “If we can flip this seat, we can expand the Democratic majority and protect the right to an abortion. The stakes of our battleground Senate race have never been higher. Every single one of my GOP opponents supports dangerous, restrictive anti-abortion laws.”
