Almost 3 in 4 in new poll support abortion access in first six weeks of pregnancy

by Lauren Sforza - 07/12/23 7:51 AM ET

Demonstrators hold signs as they rally outside the Supreme Court building during the Women’s March in Washington, Saturday, June 24, 2023. Abortion rights and anti-abortion activists held rallies Saturday in Washington and across the country to call attention to the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling on June 24, 2022, which upended the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Nearly 3 in 4 Americans — including those living in states with strict bans on the procedure — believe abortion should be legal in the first six weeks of pregnancy, a new poll found.

Seventy-three percent of Americans believe that abortion should be legal six weeks into pregnancy, including 88 percent of Democrats and 56 percent of Republicans, according to the poll conducted by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs. Americans were more divided when asked about whether abortion should be legal at 15 weeks and 24 weeks into the pregnancy, with 51 percent and 21 percent in support of it, respectively.

This was largely split by party affiliation, with 75 percent of Democrats and 29 percent of Republicans saying abortion should be allowed at 15 weeks. At 24 weeks, 53 percent of Democrats and 11 percent of Republicans were in support of abortion.

Overall, 64 percent of Americans polled believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases. Republicans were more likely to say abortion should be illegal in all or most cases, with 62 percent saying so.

Most Democrats and Republicans said someone should be able to get an abortion under select circumstances — like if the baby would be born with a life-threatening illness, if the mother’s life was endangered by the pregnancy or if the pregnancy was the result of rape or incest.

However, if someone did not want to be pregnant for any reason, 79 percent of Democrats said they should be able to get an abortion, while only 29 percent of Republicans said the same.

The poll also found most adults know someone who has received an abortion, but fewer than 10 percent of respondents said they know someone who has traveled to get an abortion despite the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade last year. Overall, 39 percent said abortion was too difficult to access in their communities, while 24 percent said it was too easy.

The poll was conducted June 22-26 among 1,220 adults and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.

Tags abortion