Late last month, Townhall covered how many states enacted groundbreaking life-affirming measures after the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade. This included legislation banning abortion within the first trimester of pregnancy and outlawing “abortion trafficking” of minors. More states, like Iowa and Indiana, are expected to enact more pro-life legislation soon.
A new Associated Press-NORC poll published this week found that the majority of Americans (56 percent) think it is “too easy” or “about right” in terms of how easy it is to obtain an abortion in the aftermath of Dobbs. In addition, a majority of respondents said it is “too easy” or “about right” about how easy it is to obtain contraception (68 percent).
According to the latest AP-NORC poll, a vast amount of Americans still support the legalization of abortion.
— Ed Krassenstein (@EdKrassen) July 13, 2023
Overall, 73% of people support abortion in the first 6 weeks of pregnancy, while 51% support it in the first 15 weeks and 27% support it in the first 24 weeks.
When it… pic.twitter.com/nr1kj6E2UC
Broken down, 59 percent of Democrats think it is “too easy” or “about right” about how easy it is to access birth control and family planning, while 43 percent said this about getting an abortion. Eighty percent of Republicans said it’s “too easy” or “about right” about how easy it is to access birth control and family planning, while 73 percent said the same of abortion.
In the poll, the majority of Americans expressed that they oppose late-term, third-trimester abortions (via the Associated Press):
Opinions are more divided over the timeframe of when abortion should be allowed. Seventy-three percent of respondents think that it should be allowed within the first 6 weeks, but that drops to 51% for 15 weeks. Most people living in states where abortion is highly restricted say it should be legal at least up to six weeks, even as they generally favor tighter access to abortion than adults overall.
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And while most people believe that their state should allow legal abortion 6 weeks into pregnancy, opinions are more divided later into pregnancy. About half of adults say states should allow legal abortions at 15 weeks, and just 27% say the same at 24 weeks into a pregnancy.
Fifty-eight percent of those living in states with the most restrictive abortion laws people say abortion should be allowed at six weeks along with more than 7 in 10 people in the rest of the country. At 15 weeks, 59% of those living in the least restrictive states say it should be legal compared with about 4 in 10 people in more restrictive states. Only 31% of people living in states where abortion is broadly available say the procedure should be legal at 24 weeks as well as about one in four residents of states with at least some restrictions.
Jor-El Godsey, president of Heartbeat International, a worldwide network of pro-life pregnancy resource centers, told Townhall in an interview on the anniversary of Dobbs that “every woman should be loved and supported through her pregnancy,” and that women don’t have the “desire” for abortion that the pro-abortion supporters believe.
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“I think part of our nation is moving in the right direction, and what we’re showing…is that yes, you can protect women, and you can help babies to be born, but also need do the other part, and that’s where we’re seeing the 'life' states move as well, I called out Texas and Missouri…that are then putting resources towards helping women have those babies, really address those issues that might push them towards abortion,” he said. “Those are the kind of multiple factors that need to happen.”
AP outlined which states have outlawed abortion entirely or placed significant restrictions on the procedure:
States where most abortions are illegal at all stages of pregnancy with few exceptions include Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
Abortion is illegal after about six to 20 weeks of pregnancy in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Nebraska, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Utah.
And states where abortion is legal at least until 22 weeks include Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wyoming.
“Americans are far more knowledgeable about prenatal development today than they were in 1973, when Roe was decided. Recent generations have grown up observing babies in pregnancy through 2D, 3D and 4D ultrasound images,” SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser said in The Hill this week.
“When asked for their specific views — in terms of weeks or trimesters — Americans consistently express a desire to protect the unborn throughout most of their nine months of gestation,” she added. “Americans are reasonable and compassionate and overwhelmingly want pro-life protections for both mother and child.”
