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Memos & Media Guidance
Strong Majority of Battleground State Voters Support Reproductive Freedom, Reject Banning Abortion
From: Katherine Patterson, Public Policy Polling
To: Interested Parties
Date: August 25, 2020
A new Public Policy Polling survey finds that a strong majority (73%) of voters in key battleground states—Arizona, Iowa, Michigan, and North Carolina—believe that abortion should be legal, and that the government should not prevent a woman from making that decision for herself. Just 13% say they would only consider voting for a candidate who supports banning abortion in the November election.
A large majority (76%) also agree, with 60% in strong agreement, that any decision about pregnancy should be made by the woman with the support of people she loves and trusts, while just 18% disagree. This also includes 79% of independent voters and 55% of Republicans.
Voters in these key states also show strong support for respecting a woman’s freedom to make personal decisions:
- 66% agree that one-size-fits-all laws simply don’t work when people are making personal medical decisions, while just 19% disagree.
- 57% agree that it is important for state legislatures to proactively protect the right to abortion through state legislation, with Roe v. Wade in danger of being overturned in the Supreme Court. Only 33% disagree.
- 56% are also more likely to vote for a candidate who supports a world where people respect others’ personal decisions about parenthood and pregnancy—whether those decisions involve giving birth, putting a child up for adoption, having an abortion, or choosing not to have children at all. Just 23% say they would be less likely to support such a candidate.
- 64% say they are more likely to support a candidate who would allow abortion later in pregnancy when something has gone wrong, such as a fetus that can’t survive, danger to a woman’s life, or other serious circumstances. Just 15% say they would be less likely.
Other key findings in the survey include:
- 51% of voters who supported President Trump in 2016 support reproductive freedom and access to abortion; believing that the government should not prevent a woman from making that decision for herself.
- 59% of voters who supported Trump in 2016 agree that decisions on pregnancy should be made by the woman with the support of people she loves and trusts, while only 33% disagree.
- A majority of voters in many faiths also support reproductive freedom and access to abortion, including 73% of Protestants, 70% of Roman Catholics, 83% of voters who practice another form of Christianity, 89% of Jewish voters, 60% of Muslims, and 87% who practice another religion.
- 94% of African-Americans and 89% of Hispanic and Latinx voters support reproductive freedom and access to abortion and believe the government should not prevent a woman from making that decision for herself.
- 88% of African-Americans and 86% of Hispanic and Latinx voters agree that decisions on pregnancy should be made by women.
Public Policy Polling surveyed 3,011 battleground voters from Arizona, Iowa, Michigan, and North Carolina from August 19-20, 2020. The margin of error is +/- 1.8%. 50% of interviews for the survey were conducted by telephone and 50% by text message.
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