Since Wednesday, abortion access has dominated the news cycle upon the enactment of S.B. 8, also known as the "heartbeat bill," which officially took effect in Texas on Wednesday. The law, signed by Gov. Greg Abbott in May, issues a sweeping ban on abortion statewide as soon as fetal heartbeat is detected. Abortion advocacy groups issued an emergency request to the United States Supreme Court in a last-ditch effort to have the bill blocked, but the Court did not act on it. Overnight, as Rebecca reported, the Supreme Court voted 5-4 – allowing the Texas law to take effect – in complete defiance of Roe v. Wade.
Despite Texas' landmark legislation to outlaw most abortions, is the rest of the country on board? A recent NBC poll, published Wednesday, shows otherwise. According to the poll findings, 54 percent of Americans believe abortion should remain legal in all or most cases.
The poll, which took place between August 14-17, showed clear differences in opinion between age groups, genders, races, and religions. A whopping 65 percent of 18-34-year-olds believe abortion should remain legal, compared to 48 percent of those ages 65 and older. Evangelicals, a widely pro-life denomination, responded to the poll with only 26 percent believing abortion should be legal. Fifty-nine percent of women polled believe abortion should be legal, compared to 49 percent of men. Urban areas and rural areas exemplify a huge discrepancy, urban areas polling at 65 percent in support of abortion rights and rural areas at 33 percent.
The most pro-abortion demographics include clear majorities with women and young people, as noted above, whites with college degrees, people living in the suburbs, and those living in the northeastern or western regions of the United States.
Conversely, rural Americans, evangelical Christians, Americans 65 and older, and those located in the southern part of the country clearly lean more pro-life.
However, as the poll write-up shows, there is a gray area. When the numbers are broken down, that 54 percent of people who believe abortion should be "always legal" or "legal most of the time" can be divided into 23 percent who believe "most of the time" and 31 percent who believe it should "always" be legal. Thirty-four percent believe abortion should be illegal "with exceptions." A mere 8 percent of respondents believe abortion should be illegal with no exceptions. The remaining 4 percent remain unsure.
As the NBC news write-up states, "there is a middle in this debate. It's just that our present political system — and our political parties — can't handle the middle anymore, especially on abortion."