WASHINGTON – A solid majority of Americans oppose a federal abortion ban As growing numbers support access to abortion for any reason, new research reveals, highlighting a politically dangerous situation for candidates who oppose abortion rights as the November elections get closer.
About 6 in 10 Americans think their state should generally allow a person to have a legal abortion if they don’t want to get pregnant for any reason, according to a new poll from Associated Press-NORC Public Affairs Research Center. This is a increase from June 2021one year before the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to the procedure, when about half of Americans thought legal abortion should be possible under these circumstances.
Americans largely oppose the strict bans that have taken effect in Republican-controlled states since the high court decision two years ago. Total banswith limited exceptions, it has taken effect in 14 GOP-led states, while three other states ban abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, before women often realize they are pregnant.
They are also overwhelmingly against national abortion bans and restrictions. And views on abortion – which have has been relatively stable for a long time – may be becoming more permissive.
Vincent Wheeler, a 47-year-old Republican from Los Angeles, said abortion should be available for any reason by viabilitythe point at which health care providers say it is possible for a fetus to survive outside the uterus.
“There are so many reasons why someone might want or need an abortion that it’s up to that person to decide what they should do in that particular circumstance,” Wheeler said, acknowledging that some Republican colleagues may disagree.
Presumptive Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump refused to endorse a national ban on abortion, saying the issue should be left to the states. But even that position is likely to be unsatisfactory to most Americans, who continue to oppose many abortion bans in their own state, and think Congress should pass a law that guarantees access to abortion throughout the country, according to research.
Seven in 10 Americans think abortion should be legal in all or most cases, a slight increase from last year, while about 3 in 10 think abortion should be illegal in all or most cases .
Robert Hood, a 69-year-old from Universal City, Texas, who identifies as an “independent liberal,” believes that abortion should be allowed for any reason as a senior in high school because “life It’s full of gray situations. He remembers reading stories as a teenager about women who died trying to get an abortion before the Roe v. Wade decision. Wade of 1973 granted a constitutional right to the procedure.
“Pregnancy is complicated,” he said. “Women should make the choice with the advice of their doctor and family, but at the end of the day the choice is hers, her body and her life.”
He said he would support national protections for abortion rights.
Opinions on abortion have long been nuanced and sometimes contradictory. The new AP-NORC survey shows that although the country is largely antagonistic to abortion restrictions, a substantial number of people have views and values that are not internally consistent.
About half of those who say a woman should be able to have an abortion for any reason also say their state should not allow abortion after 24 weeks of pregnancy, and about a quarter say their state should not allow abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
But the vast majority of Americans — more than 8 in 10 — continue to say that abortion should be legal in extreme circumstances, such as when a patient is aborted. life would be in danger continuing the pregnancy. About 8 in 10 say the same about a pregnancy caused by rape or incest or when a fetal abnormality would prevent the child from surviving outside the womb.
National abortion bans are widely unpopular: About 8 in 10 Americans say Congress should not pass a federal law banning abortion. About three-quarters say there should not be a federal law banning abortions at six weeks, and 6 in 10 oppose a federal law banning abortions at 15 weeks.
A majority of Republicans — about two-thirds, according to the poll — say a national abortion ban should not happen.
During the campaign, Trump courted anti-abortion voters by highlighting the appointment of three Supreme Court justices who helped overturn Roe. But his strategy on abortion policy has been defer to the statesan attempt to find a more cautious stance on an issue that has become a great vulnerability for Republicans since the 2022 Dobbs decision.
Despite Trump’s statements, Penny Johnson, 73, of Sherman Oaks, Calif., said she is deeply worried that Republicans might pursue a national abortion ban if they win the White House and Congress in November.
“We will have a lot of women who will die,” she said.
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The survey of 1,088 adults was conducted June 20-24, 2024, using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 4.0 percentage points.
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Fernando reported from Chicago. Associated Press polling writer Linley Sanders contributed to this report.
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The Associated Press receives support from several private foundations to improve its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about AP’s democracy initiative here. AP is solely responsible for all content.
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