A Majority in All but Five States Think Abortion Should Be Legal: Poll

A sprawling new survey of Americans’ views on abortion rights suggests that there are just five states in which a majority of Americans do not support legal abortion in all or most cases.The survey from PRRI, released Thursday, found that nationally 64 percent of Americans say that abortion should be legal in all or most cases, and 35 percent say that abortion should be illegal in all or most cases.On the national level, the issue is highly polarized along partisan lines, with 86 percent of Democrats and 36 percent of Republicans believing that abortion should generally be legal. Among independents, 67 percent say they think abortion should generally be legal.The survey, which contacted about 22,500 American adults across all 50 states, also tracked state-level opinions about abortion rights. The survey found that there were only five states — North Dakota, South Dakota, Arkansas, Idaho, and Utah — where a minority of respondents said abortion should be legal in most or all circumstances. The states with the lowest level of support for abortion rights were Idaho and Utah, where just 45 percent of respondents said that abortion should be legal in all or most circumstances.There was no state in which more than 16 percent of respondents thought that abortion should be illegal in all circumstances. Nationally, just 9 percent of respondents reported believing that abortion should be illegal in all circumstances.Kentucky and North Dakota are the states with the largest portion of populations that say abortion should be illegal, at 16 percent. In Montana and South Carolina, 15 percent of respondents held this position. In Nebraska and Louisiana, 14 percent held the position.“Our new survey shows that the partisan gap among Americans with respect to abortion is larger than ever,” the chief executive of PRRI, Melissa Deckman, said in a memo. “Yet, we continue to find that very few Americans support making abortion illegal in all cases, regardless of party, religion, or whether they reside in a blue, red, or battleground state.”In the most closely watched swing states, there were strong majorities that supported legal abortion in all or most cases.In Nevada, 76 percent of respondents said abortion should generally be legal. In North Carolina, 66 percent generally supported legal abortion.In Wisconsin, 66 percent supported abortion rights, and in Arizona, 60 percent supported legal abortion. In Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Michigan, 63 percent supported legal abortion. It’s clear that the issue matters to people at the ballot box as well. The survey found that 36 percent of Americans would only vote for a candidate who shares their position on the issue of abortion. Another 46 percent said that they would consider a candidate’s position on abortion, but as one of many important factors. Just 15 percent said they don’t see abortion as a major issue.The survey’s findings come as abortion has become one of the most prominent political issues in the country since the overturning of Roe v. Wade. In states like Florida and Arizona, Democrats have moved to seize on broadly unpopular abortion policies in the hopes of stirring support for their party come November. There are also two states, Florida and Maryland, where ballot measures addressing abortion rights have already been approved to appear on the ballot. There are seven more states, including the battlegrounds of Nevada and Arizona, where organizers have either submitted petitions or are collecting signatures. Another six states have abortion related ballot measures awaiting legislative approval. Missouri also has multiple ballot measures percolating through its system.

A Majority in All but Five States Think Abortion Should Be Legal: Poll

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