Majority wants to keep legal abortion, but with restrictions: NPR

Three-quarters of Americans say they want to keep the landmark decision of the Supreme Court, Roe v. Wade, This has legalized abortion in the United States, but a strong majority would like to see restrictions on the right to abortion, according to a new NPR / PBS NewsHour / Marist poll.

The survey revealed a great complexity – and sometimes even a contradiction between the Americans – that goes far beyond the points of discussion of the strongest voices in the debate. In fact, there is a lot of dissatisfaction with the abortion policy. Nearly two-thirds of people said they were somewhat or very dissatisfied, with 66% of those identifying as "pro-life" and 62% of those identifying themselves as "pro-choice".

"What we are talking about is the fact that the debate is dominated by extreme positions on both sides," said Barbara Carvalho, director of the Marist survey, who conducted the survey. "People see the issue as very complicated, very complex, their positions do not fit on one side or the other … The debate is about the extremes, and the public is not there. "

The poll comes as several states have attempted to limit abortions in the hope of having the issue reviewed by the Supreme Court. Opponents of abortion rights hope the new Conservative court will overturn roe or actually empty it by maintaining severe restrictions. The survey reveals that while most Americans are in favor of limiting abortion, they do not want it to be illegal and will not go as far as states like Alabama. , which would prohibit it completely unless the life of the woman is in danger or if the health is in danger.

A total of 77% say the Supreme Court should confirm deer, but inside of that, there are a lot of nuances – 26% say they would like to see it stay in place, but with more restrictions added; 21% want to see roe expanded to establish the right to abortion in all circumstances; 16% want to keep it as is; and 14% want to see some of the restrictions allowed by roe reduced. Only 13% overall say that it should be reversed.

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Even though the Americans are strongly opposed to the overthrow deer, a majority would also like abortion to be limited in different ways. In a separate question, respondents were asked which of the six choices best fit their vision of abortion policy.

A total of 61% said they favored a combination of limitations that included allowing abortion in the first three months of pregnancy alone (23%); only in cases of rape, incest or saving the life of the woman (29%); or only save the life of the woman (9%).

Eighteen percent said that abortion should be available to women throughout their pregnancy. At the other end of the spectrum, 9% said that this should never be allowed under any circumstances.

More than half (53%) of Americans say that they would certainly not vote for a candidate who would appoint Supreme Court judges who would limit or overturn roe.

Politically, abortion has been a stronger voting problem for Republicans than for Democrats. This poll found that abortion was the second most important problem for Republicans when they decided to vote for their president after immigration. But for Democrats, it is the fifth – behind health care, the role of America in the world, climate change and personal financial wellbeing.

The survey also revealed the highest percentage of people who say they are "in favor of choice", those who generally support the right to abortion, since a Gallup poll conducted in December 2012. In this survey, 57% declared the opposite, against 35% themselves "pro-life", those who are generally opposed to the right to abortion.

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The percentage of people who identify as "pro-choice" is increasing since a Marist poll in February, while the two sides were 47% apart. Pollsters attribute this change to the efforts of various states to severely restrict abortions.

"The public is responding very well to the arguments put forward by the most committed defenders on both sides of the issue," said Carvalho, adding that "the danger for Republicans is that when you look at the independents, the independents are moving more towards the democrats ". that question. (…) When the debate begins to exceed what the public opinion thinks is common sense, we have seen independents moving in the corner of the Democrats. "

In the case of self-identification, 60% of independents identified themselves as "pro-choice". When asked which party would do the best to solve the problem of abortion, a majority of Americans overall chose Democrats (47%) compared to Republicans (34%).

The independents chose the Democrats on the question of which party would do a better job with a margin of 11 points (43% to 32%).

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When asked whether they would be more inclined to support state laws decriminalizing abortion and the less restrictive, 60% of Americans, including two-thirds of independents, chose decriminalizing laws the abortion less strict.

What do Americans support and oppose?

The survey also posed a long series of questions to try to understand what Americans support or oppose regarding potential changes to abortion laws in several states. Survey respondents were not informed of the origin of the proposals.

The poll found that Americans strongly oppose the imposition of fines and / or jail time on doctors who perform abortions. There was also a slight majority of people who favored abortion at any time during pregnancy if there was no viability outside the uterus and the obligation for insurance companies to cover procedures abortion. A slight majority also opposed the idea of ​​allowing pharmacists and health professionals to stop providing drugs or surgeries leading to abortions.

At the same time, two-thirds were in favor of a 24-hour waiting period from the time a woman meets a health care professional until the abortion procedure properly so called; two-thirds wanted abortion doctors to have a privilege of admission to the hospital; and a slight majority wanted the law to require that women be presented with an ultrasound image at least 24 hours before an abortion procedure.

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"What is most interesting here," said Carvalho, is that "the extremes are really aberrant." When they defend their positions and change the debate to adopt the most extreme position on the issue, they actually do the opposite – they are removing public opinion from them. "

The strongest supporters on both sides, however, had the ability to reorient the debate and public opinion to their point of view. Consider that many of the specific points above, at one time or another, were the subject of lively debate.

When does life begin?

The survey also posed the very big question of when Americans think life begins. There was not an overwhelming consensus. A plurality of the six choices offered, but significantly less than a majority, says that life begins at conception (38%). Just over half (53%) disagreed, saying that life began in the first eight weeks of pregnancy (8%), the first three months (8%), between three and six months (7%) , when a viable fetus (14%) or at birth (16%).

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Gender gap? Try to separate parties, especially women

The most acute gap between Americans on the issue of abortion, no doubt, is not a gender gap, but between parties – and women of different parties.

For example, 54% of men said they were "pro-choice", compared to 60% of women. For women from different parties, 77% of women Democrats identified themselves as "pro-choice", while 68% of Republican women identified themselves as "pro-life". (A lower percentage of Republican men, 59%, considered themselves "pro-life".)

Throughout the election, the break was clear. Sure deer, for example, 62% of Republican women said to reverse it or add restrictions; 73% of Democratic women said to keep it as is, expand it to allow abortion under any circumstances or reduce some of the restrictions.

Eighty-four percent of Democratic women said they were more inclined to support state laws decriminalizing abortion and making them less strict; 62% of Republican women reported being more likely to support laws that criminalize abortion or make them more strict.

Regarding the obligation of insurance companies to cover abortion procedures, 75% of Democratic women argue that 78% of Republicans are opposed to it, which is higher than the 63% of Republican men who said the same thing.

Republican women are also distinguished by 62% of them who said they oppose the laws allowing abortion at any time of pregnancy in case of rape or incest. They are the only group to express a majority opposition to this. Fifty-nine percent of Republican men, for example, said they would support such a law.

And Republican women are the only group to say overwhelmingly that life begins at conception. About three-quarters said so, against less than half of the Republican men and one-third of the Democratic women.

It is a reminder that Republican women are, in many ways, the backbone of the movement against the right to abortion.

The survey of 944 adults was conducted by telephone through live interviewers from May 31 to June 4. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.

Editor's note: The survey asked respondents to identify themselves as "pro-life" or "pro-choice". This question, using the labels "pro-life" and "pro-choice", was included in the survey as it tracks the evolution of public debate on abortion for decades. He is sensitive to current affairs and public debate even though he does not account for the nuanced positions that many people have on the issue.