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Poll Shows Spike in Support of Violence for Abortion Rights

In 2022, after the draft opinion from the Supreme Court case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization was leaked and published by Politico, pro-abortion group Jane’s Revenge declared a “night of rage” against pro-life, pro-family organizations that exist to help women in a crisis pregnancy carry their child to term. 

According to CatholicVote, since the draft opinion leaked, there have been at least 180 attacks against Catholic churches in the United States, “including acts of arson which damaged or destroyed historic churches; spray-painting and graffiti of satanic messages; rocks and bricks thrown through windows; statues destroyed (often with heads cut off); and illegal disruptions of Mass.”

In addition, Catholic News Agency reported that over 60 pregnancy centers have been subject to pro-abortion attacks.

Graffiti at some of the pro-life businesses that were attacked stated: “If abortions aren’t safe neither are you.” This is documented occurring in Eastpointe, Michigan Minneapolis, Minnesota, Madison, Wisconsin, Asheville, North Carolina, Hialeah, Florida, St. Paul, Minnesota, and Southfield, Michigan.

Now, a new report from the University of Chicago’s Project on Security and Threats (CPOST) has found that Americans’ “radical, expressly violent support in order to restore the federal right to abortion” has increased significantly over the last six months. 

The poll, “Dangers to Democracy: Tracking Deep Distrust of Democratic Institutions, Conspiracy Beliefs, and Support for Political Violence Among Americans,” was released on July 10, according to CNA. The poll was conducted June 22 to 26 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.3 percentage points.

According to the report, the number of people who believe in violent support to restore abortion rights went from 8 percent in January to 9 percent in April to 12 percent in June (via CPOST):

Violent Support to Restore Abortion Rights 

Radical, expressly violent support to restore the federal right to abortion grew from 8 percent in January 2023 to 12 percent as of June 26, 2023, a modest but significant rise beyond the 4 margin of survey error. The increase was sharpest among Democrats, doubling over the past 6 months from 8 to 16 percent. This likely indicates growing anger over the Republican controlled supreme court.

The poll write-up noted that this accounts for an estimated 31 million adults. 

Broken down by political party, 8 percent of Democrats surveyed felt this way in January, compared to 11 percent in April and 16 percent in June. 

Eleven percent of Independent voters felt this way in January, compared to 9 percent in April and 15 percent in June. 

As for Republicans, 6 percent surveyed in January agreed that violence was justified to restore abortion rights. In April, 5 percent of Republicans felt this way, according to the poll, as did 6 percent in June. 

In June, WTTW reported that CPOST found that 22 million Americans said “force would be justified to restore abortion rights.”