The group most affected by abortion restrictions – women of reproductive age – are overwhelmingly against them, a new poll has found.
according to The results announced on Tuesday According to KFF, a non-profit health research center, 74% of US women between the ages of 18 and 49 think abortion should be legal. About 70% support a federal right to abortion Vice President Kamala Harris holds the post in a presidential election where abortion rights are expected to be a motivating factor for many voters.
About half of Republican reproductive-age women said abortion should be legal in most or all cases.
This was said by former President Donald Trump states must decide whether abortion is legalhowever, 74% of women surveyed disagreed. According to Brittney Fredericksen, KFF’s associate director of women’s health policy, who worked on the survey, the number includes women seeking a nationwide ban. About half of Republican women polled who oppose leaving abortion policy up to the states said they held that position.
The results are based on the results of the 2024 KFF Women’s Health Survey, which surveyed more than 6,200 women between the ages of 18 and 64 across the country from mid-May to mid-June about issues such as abortion, contraception and mental health. The report, released Wednesday, focuses more on how women of reproductive age view abortion, based on 3,900 responses.
Given the prominence of the issue in the elections, the results are particularly relevant. Abortion-related measures are on the ballot in eight states Arizona and Missouri officially joins the list on Tuesday. Similar measures in three other states have required signatures but await certification.
The survey conducted by KFF in February showed this 1 in 8 voters viewed abortion as the most important issue in the election, and about half thought it was very important. A Gallup poll conducted in May suggests this about a third of voters would only vote for a major candidate who shared his views on abortion.
However, Trump has recently downplayed the issue. he said press conference said last week that it would be a “very minor issue” in the election.
Harris, meanwhile, emphasized that.
“We believe in women making decisions about their own bodies and not having the government tell them what to do. “When Congress passes legislation to restore reproductive freedoms, I will sign it into law as president.” He said at the first rally of the presidential elections last month.
According to the KFF survey, the choice to have an abortion transcends partisan differences. About similar shares of reproductive-age women from each party reported having abortions: 12% of Republicans, 14% of Democrats, and 15% of independents.
About 64% said they opposed a nationwide law banning abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., has proposed such a policy (which would not repeal more restrictive state laws), and Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, Trump’s running mate, expressed his support for the bill in 2022. But recently, Vance said CBS News’ “Face the Nation” he said he shared Trump’s opinion that states should determine their own policies.
A broader KFF poll of adults under 65 found that 65% support nationwide abortion rights, Frederiksen said. A Take a survey at the Pew Research Center As of April, 63% of US adults think abortion should be legal in all or most cases.
KFF also released two additional reports Wednesday that looked at opinions about abortion policies among women of reproductive age in Arizona and Florida. Both states have abortion measures on their November ballots.
Florida proposes to repeal the measure the state’s six-week abortion banentered into force in May. It needs 60 percent of the vote to pass.
The results of a survey conducted by KFF in Florida 72% of women of reproductive age there think abortion should be legal, including about half of Republican women. Still, Frederiksen said, “we don’t know who plans to vote and who will come.”
Arizona, the ultimate swing state, KFF found 70% of women of reproductive age think abortion should be legal. More than 6 in 10 expressed concern that the abortion ban could affect the safety of future pregnancies for them or their loved ones.
In Arizona, abortion is legal up to 15 weeks, but in April the state Supreme Court ruled 1864 law banning all abortions except to save a woman’s life was enacted. Gov. Kathy Hobbs later signed a bill repealing the ban before it took effect.
In the fall, Arizonans will vote on a proposed constitutional amendment that would guarantee abortion care up to the 24th week of pregnancy for fetal viability. A A May poll from CBS News and YouGov 65% of Arizonans said they would vote yes.
Fredericksen said her research shows that many women are unaware or misinformed about their state’s abortion landscape. For example, only 58% of women of reproductive age in Arizona had heard of medication abortion.
“A lot of people don’t know the abortion policy in their state, don’t know if medical abortion is legal, and don’t know if they can buy medical abortion pills online,” she said. “So I think there’s a lot of confusion.”