Memo Michigan
Memo
Strong Majority of North Carolina Voters Support Reproductive Freedom, Reject Banning Abortion
From: Katherine Patterson, Public Policy Polling
To: Interested Parties
Date: August 21, 2020
A new Public Policy Polling survey finds that a strong majority (74%) of North Carolina voters believe that abortion should be legal, and that the government should not prevent a woman from making that decision for herself. Just 11% say they would only consider voting for a candidate who supports banning abortion in the November election.
A large majority (80%) also agree, with 62% 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 13% disagree. This also includes 83% of independent voters and 63% of Republicans. Among African-American voters, 96% agree.
Voters in North Carolina also show strong support for respecting a woman’s freedom to make personal decisions:
- 64% agree that one-size-fits-all laws simply don’t work when people are making personal medical decisions, while just 19% disagree.
- 60% 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 28% disagree. This is also especially popular among African-American voters, with 80% in agreement.
- 54% 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 25% say they would be less likely to support such a candidate.
Other key findings in the survey include:
- 50% of North Carolinians 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.
- 65% 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 24% disagree.
- A majority of North Carolinians in many faiths also support reproductive freedom and access to abortion, including 74% of Protestants, 78% of Roman Catholics, 91% of voters who practice another form of Christianity, 90% of Jewish voters, and 65% who practice another religion.
Public Policy Polling surveyed 816 North Carolina from August 19-20, 2020. The margin of error is +/- 3.4%. 50% of interviews for the survey were conducted by telephone and 50% by text message.