Bill Gates’s daughter Phoebe Gates, 22, has publicly revealed who she’ll be voting for in the 2024 US presidential election on Tuesday, November 5.
The Microsoft co-founder’s youngest child recently wrote an essay for Nylon, explaining that her vote centered around the Supreme Court case Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which ended federal protections of abortion rights and overturned the 1973 Roe v Wade decision in June 2022.
“I’ve been passionate about sexual and reproductive health issues since my early teenage years, inspired by my mother’s focus on gender issues around the world,” the recent Stanford University graduate’s essay began.
“My own interest was sparked when I learned how challenging it is for young people in the US to get medically accurate and relevant information about our own bodies, but by the time the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade – gutting abortion rights and putting our health and humanity in the hands of politicians – that spark had turned into a fire.”
She detailed her travels to various states, including Louisana and Mississippi, where women face more extreme abortion bans. Phoebe explained how some women have even faced fatal cosequences as a result of strict abortion bans, such as being forced to carry a nonviable pregnancy to term or pregnancies that are a result of domestic violence or rape.
“There are an estimated 41 million of us Gen Zers who are eligible to vote, and we need to do so as though our lives and futures depend on it – because they do,” her essay continued. “That’s why I am voting for the presidential candidate who will fight for reproductive freedom: Vice President Kamala Harris.”
In addition to sharing her support for Harris, she also informed readers about specific states that have reproductive rights on the ballot, as Phoebe encouraged people to vote in favor of these protections.
“There are also critical races for the Senate, where, if Trump is to go unchecked, he will try to lock in a Supreme Court that will last until Gen Z is middle-aged,” she added. “We know he will do this because he did it before when he nominated three justices intending to deliver this chaos and loss of rights we have now.”
She ended her essay by recalling how she was with her mother, Melinda French Gates, when the Dobbs decision was first announced two years ago.
“She saw how upset I was, and that’s when she said the most important thing anyone has ever said to me: ‘Get mad. Stay mad. But ask yourself, what are you going to do about it?’”
Phoebe’s announcement comes just a few weeks after her billionaire father reportedly donated $50m to the Harris campaign. Despite his previous apolitical stance, the tech entrepreneur said “this election is different.” While the donation was originally supposed to be private, he later confirmed his support for Harris in a statement to The New York Times.
“I support candidates who demonstrate a clear commitment to improving health care, reducing poverty, and fighting climate change in the US and around the world,” Gates said in the statement, which did not address the donation directly. “I have a long history of working with leaders across the political spectrum, but this election is different, with unprecedented significance for Americans and the most vulnerable people around the world.”
With more than 80 million votes currently cast, Harris is ahead in the latest national polls collated by FiveThirtyEight with a 0.9-point lead over Republican nominee, former president Donald Trump.
