In June, the Supreme Court overturned landmark abortion case Roe v. Wade, which sent the issue of abortion back to the elected representatives of each state. Subsequent polls have asked Americans if electing pro-abortion candidates is a top priority going into the midterm elections this fall. A poll published this week ask voters what issues are the most important to them this election cycle and what restrictions on abortion they support.
A Kaiser Family Foundation poll released Tuesday asked Americans to share their opinions on the Supreme Court’s ruling in the case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned the landmark cases Roe and Planned Parenthood v. Casey.
In the findings, KKF noted that abortion is a motivating issue for “some groups” of American voters, but still comes behind inflation and gas prices as the top issue. Among women ages 18 to 49, there has been a 14 percent increase in the number who say abortion will be a “very important” issue for them going into the midterm elections. It was 59 percent in February and is now at 73 percent.
In the results, 65 percent of respondents said they “disapprove” of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe. Seventy-one percent of Republicans support the Court’s decision, while 72 percent of Independents and 90 percent of Democrats disapprove.
Additionally, 61 percent of respondents said they “want laws in their state to guarantee access to abortion.” Twenty-five percent of respondents said they want laws in their state to ban abortion. Fifty-one percent of those living in states with abortion trigger laws in place say they want their state to guarantee abortion access, while 32 percent want to see abortion banned. Thirteen percent say they don’t want their state to pass laws banning abortion nor do they want their state to pass laws guaranteeing abortion access.
A separate poll published by Gallup yesterday also showed that abortion is not the top issue on voters’ minds with the midterm elections coming up. Inflation and gas prices were the top issues impacting voters in Gallup’s poll, which Townhall covered.
“Abortion ranks behind three other issues on the "most important" list in Gallup's July 5-26 update. Inflation (17%) and dysfunctional government or bad leadership (17%) top the list, with another 12% of Americans making general complaints about the economy. In addition to specific mentions of inflation, 5% of respondents mention fuel and gas prices,” Gallup noted in its write-up.
“Republicans are in part more likely to mention inflation, the economy in general and fuel prices as the top problem because they associate these with the Biden administration,” it continued. “Democrats are significantly more likely than Republicans to say that gun-related issues and climate/environmental issues are the top problems.”