This month, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which pertains to a 15-week abortion ban in Mississippi. The case has the potential to overturn the landmark case Roe v. Wade, which gave American women the right to abortion. A poll published this week shows how Americans currently feel about abortion access where they live and if it's "easy" to obtain an abortion or not.
In the Morning Consult survey released Tuesday, respondents were asked whether they think it is easy or difficult to access "abortion care" near where they live. Twenty percent of all adults say it would be difficult, while 30 percent say it would be easy. In the survey, about one in five Americans think abortions are more accessible today than they were five years ago.
Broken down by gender, 19 percent of men say accessing abortion where they live would be difficult, whereas 35 percent of men say it would be easy. Twenty percent of women say accessing an abortion near where they live would be difficult, and one-fourth of women say it would be easy.
By political party, 22 percent of Democrats and 15 percent of Republicans say accessing abortion where they live would be difficult. On the other hand, 36 percent of Democrats and 26 percent of Republicans say it would be easy.
Eighteen percent of insured adults and 29 percent of uninsured adults say obtaining an abortion would be difficult. On the other hand, 31 percent of insured adults and 22 percent of uninsured adults say it would be difficult.
"The poll suggests that costs, limited care nearby and a lack of insurance were barriers for the subset of women who had trouble accessing abortion or other reproductive health services," the poll write-up reads. "That's based on an initial read of 58 women in the survey. Advocates say those issues will be exacerbated by restrictions that severely limit the number of abortion providers operating in a state, and in some states, like California and Illinois, clinics are preparing for an influx of out-of-state patients."
As I covered, California Gov. Gavin Newsom is working with a coalition of over 40 abortion clinics and advocacy groups to boost the state's "abortion infrastructure."
"We'll be a sanctuary," Newsom said in an interview with the Associated Press. He added that he's aware that more out-of-state patients will travel to California for abortions. "We are looking for ways to support that inevitability and looking at ways to expand our protections."
The poll, which was conducted from Dec. 2 to Dec. 6, surveyed 2,200 adults and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.
