Women's Views of Abortion Access and Policies in the Dobbs Era: Insights From the KFF Health Tracking Poll – KFF
The impartial supply for well being coverage analysis, polling, and information.
The impartial supply for well being coverage analysis, polling, and information.
Audrey Kearney, Ashley Kirzinger, Liz Hamel, and Alina Salganicoff
Printed: Apr 05, 2024
Almost two years after the Dobbs v. Jackson Ladies’s Well being Group Supreme Court docket ruling overturned Roe v. Wade, eliminating federal constitutional protections for abortion, abortion is banned in 14 states and restricted by gestational limits in 11 others. The newest polling from KFF finds that girls in states the place abortion is banned usually tend to report private connections to individuals who have had issue accessing abortion providers because the overturn of Roe. Latest analysis has documented that many ladies who reside in states the place abortion is banned have traveled to different states to safe abortions. This may be expensive and require them to take day without work from work, discover childcare, and in some instances make a number of visits to get abortion providers. There have additionally been experiences of girls who’ve been denied abortions though they meet the state requirements for exemptions. Earlier reporting from the KFF Health Tracking Poll examines ladies’s views on abortion coverage together with by partisanship, which is without doubt one of the strongest predictors of those views. This evaluation examines ladies’s views by geography—particularly whether or not they reside in a state the place abortion is at present banned, restricted, or authorized.
Eight p.c of girls total, rising to at least one in seven (14%) ladies of reproductive age (ages 18 to 49), say they or somebody they know has had issue accessing an abortion as a result of restrictions of their state since Roe was overturned. Ladies dwelling in states the place abortion is banned are twice as more likely to report figuring out somebody who had issue accessing an abortion in comparison with ladies dwelling in states the place abortion is proscribed or authorized. One in seven (14%) ladies dwelling in states the place abortion is banned say they or somebody they know has struggled to entry an abortion as a result of restrictions on abortions of their state, together with one in 5 (21%) ladies ages 18-49 dwelling in these states. Fewer ladies in states the place abortion is proscribed by gestational durations (6%) or in states the place abortion is authorized previous 22 weeks of gestation (7%) say they or somebody they know has skilled such difficulties.
Whereas there are some small variations in ranges of help for abortion restrictions between ladies dwelling in states the place abortion is banned and people dwelling in different states, majorities of girls throughout states—together with in these with abortion bans—assume abortion needs to be authorized in all or most instances and help a spread of insurance policies that defend abortion entry.
No matter whether or not abortion of their state is banned, restricted, or authorized, a majority of girls assume abortion needs to be authorized in all or most instances, together with two-thirds (67%) of girls in states the place abortion is banned and 7 in ten (71%) in states the place abortion is proscribed by gestational limits. A bigger majority (81%) of girls in states the place abortion is at present authorized say abortion needs to be authorized in all or most instances. One in 4 ladies dwelling in states the place abortion is banned assume abortion needs to be “unlawful normally,” as do one in 5 ladies dwelling in states the place abortion is proscribed by gestational limits (19%) and ladies dwelling in states the place abortion is authorized (17%). A small share of girls, no matter their state’s legal guidelines, say abortion needs to be “unlawful in all instances” (8% of girls dwelling in states the place abortion is banned, 10% in states with restricted abortion entry, 2% in states with authorized abortions out there).
A majority of girls, whatever the abortion legal guidelines of their state, help legal guidelines reminiscent of defending abortion entry for girls experiencing pregnancy-related emergencies reminiscent of miscarriages, defending the appropriate to journey to get an abortion, and guaranteeing a federal proper to abortion.
No matter the kind of abortion restrictions of their state, fewer than half of girls help legal guidelines that prohibit or criminalize abortion entry, although there are some variations within the degree of help for various insurance policies. Amongst ladies dwelling in states the place abortion is banned, just below half help establishing a federal 16-week ban on abortions (45%), and 4 in ten help prohibiting clinics that obtain federal funding from offering abortions or referring sufferers to abortion suppliers (40%) or making it a criminal offense for well being care suppliers to mail abortion capsules to state with abortion bans (38%). One-third help a nationwide ban on mifepristone, the abortion treatment (33%).
Fewer ladies in states the place abortion is authorized help establishing a federal ban on abortion at 16 weeks (33% vs. 45% amongst ladies in states the place abortion is banned), doubtless reflecting underlying political variations between ladies who reside in a lot of these states. In actual fact, 4 in ten (38%) ladies dwelling in states the place abortion is banned or restricted both are or lean Republican, in comparison with about three in ten (28%) ladies dwelling in states the place abortion is authorized. The most important predictor of help for these insurance policies is political partisanship, even amongst ladies. For an extra exploration on these partisanship variations, see previous reporting on this survey.
The problem of abortion entry is more likely to emerge in a number of kinds within the November 2024 election. A variety of states are shifting ahead with poll initiatives to guard abortion rights on the state degree. As well as, KFF polling reveals that one in eight voters (12%) say abortion is an important problem to their vote, largely comprised of adults who say abortion needs to be authorized and help protections for abortion entry. Notably, one in 5 ladies of reproductive age in states the place abortion is banned say that both they or somebody they personally know has had issue acquiring an abortion. Assist for abortion protections together with a federal assure to the appropriate to abortion is powerful amongst ladies, no matter the place they reside. Whereas substantial minorities of girls in states with abortion bans help some restrictions on abortion entry, two-thirds of girls dwelling in these states assume abortion needs to be authorized in all or most instances, suggesting a disconnect between what ladies in these states help and the insurance policies their state lawmakers have enacted.
Apr 2024
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