This New Poll Should Terrify Republicans
81% of Americans Don't Want Abortion Regulated
This is a special edition/addition to the 3.29.24 issue of Abortion, Every Day. The full report will be in your inbox later today.
This new poll from Axios/Ipsos shows is just incredible, and shows exactly what feminists have been screaming from the rooftops for years: America supports abortion.
In addition to finding that 72% of Americans support abortion medication, with 45% strongly supporting it, the poll also reports that most Americans support women obtaining medication from doctors or a clinic regardless of party affiliation.
What makes these very high numbers even more interesting and exciting is that just 45% of those polled were familiar with the mifepristone case in front of the Supreme Court. If recent elections have shown us anything, it’s that voters respond strongly to abortion bans and restrictions—that means Democrats have a huge opportunity to raise awareness about the case, and make clear that abortion medication is on the line.
But wait, there’s more! And this is the number that I just love: 81% of Americans believe abortion “should be managed between a woman and her doctor, not the government.”
That’s right: over 80% of Americans don’t want pregnancy to be legislated. And that includes 65% of Republicans!
In case you’re tempted to think these numbers are an anomaly, please remember that an ABC News/Washington Post poll last year showed similar results—that 78% of Americans believe the decision whether to have an abortion should be left to a woman and her doctor. (A Fox News poll released this week also showed that 7 in 10 voters support abortion medication. Fox News!)
Poll after poll shows the same thing: Americans want abortion to be legal. That’s why I get so frustrated with media coverage that paints abortion as an issue Americans are evenly split on. We’re not!
Abortion isn’t an issue of Americans disagreeing—it’s not something that’s polarizing the country, and it’s not ‘controversial’. A small group of extremist legislators are passing bans against the wishes of the vast majority of voters, forcing laws onto people who don’t want them.
And by the way, voters are not happy about it. Republicans have been taking an absolute walloping in any election where there’s even a whisper of abortion rights. Not surprisingly, the Axios/Ipsos poll reports that 58% of voters said they’d be less likely to vote for a candidate who wants to restrict abortion.
And despite Republicans’ insistence that Americans support their so-called ‘middle ground’—a national 15-week ban—the poll also shows that nearly 60% of voters oppose such an effort. No wonder they’re running scared.
It’s so important that we’re talking about this poll—and others like it—whenever possible. Conservatives rely on the myth that abortion is just a matter of disagreement, rather than the truth: it’s a crisis in democracy.
I dream of an election day so strong and clear that these fascists are stunned into silence forever. This poll gives me hope.
Thank you for not waiting to report this to us. Thank you for all you are doing to get the truth out.
The only thing I disagree with here is it's not a small group of extremist legislators. Every elected Republican is complicit unless they are voting against their own party's measures, speaking out against their own party's measures, and supporting the Democratic party's countermeasures.
Voters aren't particularly divided on abortion. It's the elected officials who are, and that's why the media treats it the way it does. It's Republicans' fault for giving their party over to fanatics, and the failure of all the Republicans who support reproductive health care, who this poll shows us exist in large numbers, to do anything about it.