Before Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh faced multiple allegations of sexual assault, his views on abortion were seen as the biggest threat to his confirmation. Democrats and many legal analysts argued that his past rulings, writings, and statements on the subject made it clear: If Kavanaugh were to secure a seat on the nation’s highest court, he would vote to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that made abortion legal nationwide.

Abortion was always going to be an issue in the 2018 midterms, as it is in every election. But it will be especially so if the Senate votes on Kavanaugh before November 6. If that vote fails, the right will use it to mobilize anti-abortion voters to protect the Republicans’ slim majority in the Senate, which likely would ensure that an equally conservative judge was confirmed to the Supreme Court. If the vote succeeds, the left will use Kavanaugh’s confirmation to do the opposite, encouraging pro-choice voters to elect Democrats who will fight to preserve abortion access in the face of a conservative court.

There’s been a lot of talk about 2018 being the “Year of the Woman,” because the #MeToo movement and the backlash to a misogynistic president are motivating Democratic women to vote and run for office in record numbers. But this conversation largely has neglected the fact that reproductive rights are proving to be a mobilizing force this fall, too.

“The issue is getting a fraction of the attention of President Donald Trump, health care and immigration,” Politico’s James Arkin wrote on Wednesday. “But Republican and anti-abortion groups have made it a major part of their ground game.” In the last two months, the piece notes, anti-abortion canvassers have knocked on more than 1.6 million doors in six states where Republicans believe the issue could give them a boost in toss-up Senate races. “For the first time in several midterms, the GOP is worried its base won’t turn out to vote, and abortion is a powerful motivator for the conservatives who could put Republican Senate candidates over the top in key states,” Arkin wrote.

Abortion access is also a powerful motivator for liberals, a fact pro-choice groups aren’t taking for granted. Planned Parenthood recently launched “its largest voter contact campaign for a midterm election,” USA Today reported earlier this month. That campaign includes an effort to knock on more than 3 million doors, and send information by mail to another 1.5 million voters. “When we talk to voters about what’s at risk for their health care access … they listen to us,” Deirdre Schifeling, executive director of Planned Parenthood Votes, told the paper.