Most US adults still support legal abortion 3 years after Roe was overturned, poll finds
The new findings from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll show that about two-thirds of U.S. adults think abortion should be legal in all or most cases.
About half believe abortion should be available in their state if someone does not want to be pregnant for any reason.
Advertisement
6 The new findings from the poll show that about two-thirds of U.S. adults think abortion should be legal in all or most cases.
AP
That level of support for abortion is down slightly from what an AP-NORC poll showed last year, when it seemed that support for legal abortion might be rising.
Laws and opinions changed when Roe was overturned
The June 2022 Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade and opened the door to state bans on abortion led to major policy changes.
Advertisement
Most states have either moved to protect abortion access or restrict it.
Twelve are now enforcing bans on abortion at every stage of pregnancy, and four more do so after about six weeks' gestation, which is often before women realize they're pregnant.
In the aftermath of the ruling, AP-NORC polling suggested that support for legal abortion access might be increasing.
6 About half believe abortion should be available in their state if someone does not want to be pregnant for any reason.
REUTERS
Advertisement
Last year, an AP-NORC poll conducted in June found that 7 in 10 U.S. adults said it should be available in all or most cases, up slightly from 65% in May 2022, just before the decision that overruled the constitutional right to abortion, and 57% in June 2021.
The new poll is closer to Americans' views before the Supreme Court ruled. Now, 64% of adults support legal abortion in most or all cases.
More than half the adults in states with the most stringent bans are in that group.
6 The June 2022 Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade and opened the door to state bans on abortion led to major policy changes.
AP
Advertisement
Similarly, about half now say abortion should be available in their state when someone doesn't want to continue their pregnancy for any reason — about the same as in June 2021 but down from about 6 in 10 who said that in 2024.
Adults in the strictest states are just as likely as others to say abortion should be available in their state to women who want to end pregnancies for any reason.
Democrats support abortion access far more than Republicans do. Support for legal abortion has dropped slightly among members of both parties since June 2024, but nearly 9 in 10 Democrats and roughly 4 in 10 Republicans say abortion should be legal in at least most instances.
Fallout from state bans has influenced some people's positions — but not others
Seeing what's happened in the aftermath of the ruling has strengthened the abortion rights position of Wilaysha White, a 25-year-old Ohio mom.
She has some regrets about the abortion she had when she was homeless.
6 In the aftermath of the ruling, AP-NORC polling suggested that support for legal abortion access might be increasing.
AP
'I don't think you should be able to get an abortion anytime,' said White, who calls herself a 'semi-Republican.'
But she said that hearing about situations — including when a Georgia woman was arrested after a miscarriage and initially charged with concealing a death — is a bigger concern.
Advertisement
'Seeing women being sick and life or death, they're not being put first — that's just scary,' she said. 'I'd rather have it be legal across the board than have that.'
Every morning, the NY POSTcast offers a deep dive into the headlines with the Post's signature mix of politics, business, pop culture, true crime and everything in between. Subscribe here!
Julie Reynolds' strong anti-abortion stance has been cemented for decades and hasn't shifted since Roe was overturned.
'It's a moral issue,' said the 66-year-old Arizona woman, who works part time as a bank teller.
Advertisement
She said her view is shaped partly by having obtained an abortion herself when she was in her 20s. 'I would not want a woman to go through that,' she said. 'I live with that every day. I took a life.'
Support remains high for legal abortion in certain situations
6 'It's a moral issue,' said the 66-year-old Arizona woman, who works part time as a bank teller.
AP
The vast majority of U.S. adults — at least 8 in 10 — continue to say their state should allow legal abortion if a fetal abnormality would prevent the child from surviving outside the womb, if the patient's health is seriously endangered by the pregnancy, or if the person became pregnant as a result of rape or incest.
Advertisement
Consistent with AP-NORC's June 2024 poll, about 7 in 10 U.S. adults 'strongly' or 'somewhat' favor protecting access to abortions for patients who are experiencing miscarriages or other pregnancy-related emergencies.
In states that have banned or restricted abortion, such medical exceptions have been sharply in focus.
This is a major concern for Nicole Jones, a 32-year-old Florida resident.
Jones and her husband would like to have children soon. But she said she's worried about access to abortion if there's a fetal abnormality or a condition that would threaten her life in pregnancy since they live in a state that bans most abortions after the first six weeks of gestation.
Advertisement
'What if we needed something?' she asked. 'We'd have to travel out of state or risk my life because of this ban.'
Adults support protections for seeking abortions across state lines — but not as strongly
6 In states that have banned or restricted abortion, such medical exceptions have been sharply in focus.
REUTERS
There's less consensus on whether states that allow abortion should protect access for women who live in places with bans.
Just over half support protecting a patient's right to obtain an abortion in another state and shielding those who provide abortions from fines or prison time. In both cases, relatively few adults — about 2 in 10 — oppose the measures and about 1 in 4 are neutral.
More Americans also favor than oppose legal protections for doctors who prescribe and mail abortion pills to patients in states with bans. About 4 in 10 'somewhat' or 'strongly' favor those protections, and roughly 3 in 10 oppose them.
Such telehealth prescriptions are a key reason that the number of abortions nationally has risen even as travel for abortion has declined slightly.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Los Angeles Times
7 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
Texas Democrats leave the state to block vote on gerrymandered congressional map
Democrats in the Texas House left the state Sunday in a last-resort bid to block new congressional maps sought by President Trump that would give Republicans a better chance of preserving their narrow U.S. House majority in the 2026 midterm elections. The dramatic revolt came before the GOP-controlled House was set to vote Monday on the proposed maps, which would give Republicans five more winnable congressional seats. In response to Texas' rare mid-decade political gerrymander, Democratic governors in other states have floated the possibility of redrawing their own maps in retaliation, but their options are limited. Many of the Texas Democrats were bound for Illinois and a welcoming from Gov. JB Pritzker, a potential 2028 presidential contender, who in recent weeks has offered them support. It was unclear how long they were prepared to stay out of Texas or whether the maneuver would succeed. Four years ago, House Democrats left Texas for 38 days in protest of new voting restrictions that still wound up passing once the holdout ended. 'This is not a decision we make lightly, but it is one we make with absolute moral clarity,' Rep. Gene Wu, chair of the House Democratic Caucus, said in a statement. Lawmakers can't pass bills in the 150-member Texas House without at least two-thirds of them present. Democrats hold 62 of the seats in the Republican-majority chamber, and at least 51 were leaving the state, said Josh Rush Nisenson, spokesperson for the House Democratic Caucus. In addition to the Illinois group, five lawmakers headed to New York and another group went to Boston, Rush Nisenson said. Republican House Speaker Dustin Burrows said the chamber would meet as planned Monday afternoon. 'If a quorum is not present then, to borrow the recent talking points from some of my Democrat colleagues, all options will be on the table,' he posted on X. Republican Atty. Gen. Ken Paxton, who is running for U.S. Senate, said on X that Democrats who 'try and run away like cowards should be found, arrested, and brought back to the Capitol immediately.' A refusal by Texas lawmakers to show up is a civil violation of legislative rules. The Texas Supreme Court held in 2021 that House leaders had the authority to 'physically compel the attendance' of missing members, but no Democrats were forcibly brought back to the state after warrants were served that year. Two years later, Republicans pushed through new rules that allow daily fines of $500 for lawmakers who don't show up for work. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment Sunday. The quorum break will also delay votes on flood relief and new warning systems in response to last month's catastrophic floods in Texas that killed at least 136 people. Democrats had called for votes on the flooding response before taking up redistricting and have criticized Republicans for not doing so. Texas Republicans last week unveiled their planned U.S. House map that would create five GOP-leaning seats. Republicans currently hold 25 of the state's 38 seats. Pritzker, who has been one of Trump's most outspoken critics during his second term, had been in quiet talks with Texas Democrats for weeks about offering support if they chose to leave the state to break quorum. Last week, the governor hosted several Texas Democrats in Illinois to publicly oppose the redistricting effort, and California Gov. Gavin Newsom held a similar event in his state. Pritzker also met privately with Texas Democratic Party Chair Kendall Scudder in June to begin planning for the possibility that lawmakers would depart for Illinois if they did decide to break quorum to block the map, according to a source with direct knowledge who requested anonymity to discuss private conversations. Now, with many Texas Democrats holed up in Illinois and blocking the gerrymandered map proposal, the stage may be set for a high-profile showdown between Pritzker and Trump. The Republican president is looking to avoid a repeat of his first term, when Democrats flipped the House two years into his presidency, and he hopes the new Texas map will aid that effort. Trump officials have also looked at redrawing lines in other states, such as Missouri, according to a person familiar with conversations but unauthorized to speak publicly about them. Cappelletti and DeMillo write for the Associated Press. AP writer Nadia Lathan in Austin, Texas, contributed to this report.
The Hill
7 minutes ago
- The Hill
Trump on Sydney Sweeney controversy: If she's Republican ‘I think her ad is fantastic'
President Trump on Sunday weighed in on actor Sydney Sweeney and her recent controversial ad campaign with American Eagle. 'You'd be surprised at how many people are Republicans,' the president said after a reporter stated that the 'White Lotus' and 'Euphoria' star is a registered Republican. 'That's what I wouldn't have known, but I'm glad you told me that. If Sydney Sweeney is a registered Republican, I think her ad is fantastic,' the president said while en route back to Washington on Sunday evening from Bedminster, N.J. BuzzFeed reported over the weekend that Sweeney has been registered to the Republican Party of Florida since June 2024. The ad featuring Sweeney has caused backlash online, with social media users criticizing what they claim are racist undertones surrounding the campaign's message that Sweeney 'has great jeans,' a riff on the idea of 'good genes.' 'Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality, and even eye color,' Sweeney says in one video. 'My jeans are blue.' Vice President Vance mocked critics of the ad in a recent interview, blaming Democrats for those who argue the commercial backs eugenics. 'So you have a pretty girl doing a jeans ad and they can't help but freak out. It reveals a lot more about them than it does us. No question,' Vance said on the 'Ruthless Podcast.' White House communications director Steven Cheung pointed to the backlash as an example of 'cancel culture run amok.'
Yahoo
36 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Beto O'Rourke Says Third Trump Term Is Coming If Texas Democrats Don't Fight Back
Former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke warns Democrats of a third Donald Trump term if they don't stop Republicans from gerrymandering Texas and giving them an additional five seats in Congress. 'No longer will we have a check on his lawlessness, accountability for his corruption and crimes, and we will see a Republican-majority Congress roll out the royal red carpet for a third Trump term,' O'Rourke said Saturday on MSNBC. 'Those are the stakes and that's why we got to fight and we got to fight to win.' On Friday, during a special session about last month's deadly Texas flooding, a Texas House panel advanced the redrawn map, which would add five new Republican districts in Texas, but O'Rourke said it's not a 'done deal' and Texas Democrats can deny their Republican counterparts the numbers to certify the maps. Trump's team requested Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to call for a special session to redraw the map and Republican lawmakers have been honest about their plans, saying they are redrawing the map for political advantage. O'Rourke said he hopes Texas Democrats will deny Republicans the votes and 'deprive' Trump of the five seats, but ultimately, he wants Democrats to inspire Americans, who have been waiting for Democrats 'to fight and to fight to win.' He continued by saying Democrats should aim to redraw districts now and gain even more seats in states that already hold a lot of Democratic seats, like California, New Jersey and Illinois. 'There are no refs in this game anymore,' O'Rourke said. 'No courts are going to ride to the rescue. This is just an all-out bareknuckle brawl and we've got to win it and be ruthlessly focused on it.' He said if Democrats do that, they have a chance of 'avoiding the worst possible outcome, which is Donald Trump stealing the 2026 election now in 2025' and Congress eventually letting Trump win a third term. On Sunday, in a last-ditch effort, Texas Democrats said they would leave the state, facing possible fines and penalties, so the legislative session to redistrict the map couldn't take place. As Texas looks to redraw the state's congressional map, O'Rourke said Texas will be every American's future. He praised and critiqued his home state, stating 'some really bad stuff' is happening in Texas, like its lax gun laws leading to a high number of mass shootings each year, its abortion ban and low minimum wage. He also mentioned that Texas led the way for Roe v. Wade in 1973 and also produced Lyndon B. Johnson, who signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law. 'Some really bad stuff is happening in Texas, but some really good things have come from this state, as well,' O'Rourke said. 'That's why we need all hands on deck in this state or what you see right now will be your future no matter where you live in this country.' Related... Texas Democrats Take Extreme Measures To Block Redistricting Vote Beto O'Rourke Says Democrats Cannot 'Play Dead' When It Comes To Republican Redistricting Wisconsin Supreme Court Orders New Legislative Maps In Redistricting Case Brought By Democrats
