That's a valid point on its own, however, I imagine for many, (rightly or wrongly) perceived stance of a state or institution toward abortion is a summarized proxy for stance toward women's rights. In other words, there's an assumed correlation that a place that so vehemently, consistently tries so darn tootin' hard to limit abortion rights, may have other similar perspectives vis-a-vis women's rights, if not minority rights in general.