Increasing support for access to abortion for any reason: Survey

Americans are increasingly likely to say they support access to abortion “for any reason,” according to a poll released Tuesday from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

A solid majority of respondents — 61 percent — in the June poll say their state should allow someone to have a legal abortion if “the person does not want to get pregnant for any reason.”

This represents a 12-point increase from the 49 percent who held that view in a June 2021 survey, which was conducted a year before the Supreme Court struck down the federal right to abortion in Dobbs v. Wade.

Support for the right to abortion “for any reason” has also increased from the 54 percent who supported it in June last year.

The increase in this support extends across the political spectrum and gender divide.

Since 2021, support for this view has increased 11 points among Republicans, from 27% to 38%; 14 points among Democrats, going from 69% to 83; and 11 points among independents, 46 percent to 57.

Support among men increased by 8 points, from 51 percent to 59 percent, and among women by 17 points, from 46 percent to 63.

A full 70 percent say abortion should be legal in most or all cases, up from 64 percent a year ago.

Access to abortion has become an increasingly prominent issue in US politics. Since the Supreme Court’s landmark 2022 ruling, total abortion bans, with limited exceptions, have gone into effect in 14 Republican-controlled states, and three other states have restricted abortions after about six weeks.

Former President Trump, the Republican Party’s presumptive presidential nominee, carefully addressed the issue of abortion access, which is widely seen as the Republican Party’s least popular issue. Trump praised his role in appointing Supreme Court justices who secured the majority to overturn Roe v. Wade. Wade and embraced the view that states should establish their own abortion laws.

President Biden and congressional Democrats have supported legislation that enshrines Roe protections at the federal level.

The survey of 1,088 adults was carried out from June 20 to 24. Its margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 4 percentage points.

This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story