WASHINGTON (CN) — Almost a year since federal protections were struck down, more than 40% of Americans told the Pew Research Center they’d struggle to access an abortion where they live.
Nearly two-thirds of Americans support abortion access, and more people believe it should be easier rather than harder to get an abortion where they live, according to the study released Wednesday.
The Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, essentially returning the issue of abortion to the states. Since then, many states have approved outright bans on abortion, with others restricting the procedure past six weeks' gestation — well before the earliest point at which women can test for potential birth defects, typically starting at 10 weeks.
Pew observed, after surveying 5,079 adults between March 27 and April 2, that 62% of Americans believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases, whereas 36% felt it should be illegal. Support is one percentage point higher than roughly the same time in 2022.
The restrictions seem to have produced the desired effect. In states where abortion is prohibited, 71% of people said it would be difficult to get an abortion, compared with 50% in 2019.
Nationwide, about 54% of people say it would be very or somewhat easy to get an abortion in the area they live, down from 65% in 2019. About 42% of people say it would be very or somewhat difficult to access an abortion, up 10 percentage points from 2019.
While restrictions have made it harder to access an abortion, people in those states have actually become more likely to support better access to the procedure. In states with outright bans, about 43% felt it should be easier to get an abortion where they live, up from 31% in 2019.
About 62% of people felt states are making it too hard to get an abortion, while 35% felt states are making it too easy.
Researchers found a sharp partisan divide on the issue, with 48% of people who identify or lean Democratic telling Pew that abortion access should be made easier, and 44% of people identifying or leaning Republican saying it should be harder.
About 84% of Democrats say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, compared with 40% of Republicans.
The divide is just as striking along age lines, with 73% of people ages 18 to 29 and 62% of people ages 30 to 49 saying abortion should be legal in all or most cases compared with 56% of people over the age of 65.
Vice President Kamala Harris said Tuesday that the state restrictions are being pushed by “extremist so-called leaders” who “don’t even know how a woman’s body works.”
“They’re saying that they’re going to make no exceptions, they’re going to criminalize [it]. And you’ve heard the horrendous stories,” she said at an event at Howard University. “There’s a lot of private suffering that’s been happening.”
Members of the Senate heard an account of such suffering during a meeting Wednesday of the Senate Judiciary Committee featuring testimony from one of the women who is suing to overturn the ban on abortions in Texas, saying that the law nearly killed her when the delay to life-saving medical care sent her into septic shock.
Earlier this month, the White House announced privacy law revisions to extend protections for people who undergo abortions in states where the laws would ostensibly carry criminal ramifications for people who travel outside their boundaries to receive the procedure. In Idaho, for example, where all forms of abortion are now outlawed, the governor recently signed a bill making it illegal for adults to assist minors in obtaining an abortion in any capacity without parental consent.
The battle over abortion has also extended to medication, although the Supreme Court intervened to keep mifepristone on pharmacy shelves while an appeal is underway.
Follow @TheNolanStout
Subscribe to Closing Arguments
Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.
Additional Reads
-
Russia targets Ukraine railways as Western aid due to arrive April 26, 2024 -
Xi tells Blinken US, China should be ‘partners, not rivals’ April 26, 2024