Americans split on abortion pill restrictions ahead of Supreme Court ruling

Americans are split on whether women should be required to have an in-person visit with a doctor before receiving abortion pills ahead of the Supreme Court ruling that will determine access to mifepristone, one of the two drugs used in medication abortion. 

Around 50 percent of respondents in the new Reuters/Ipsos poll said they were for a requirement to have women see a doctor in person first, before getting abortion pills. Around 33 percent were not in favor of the rule, and 17 percent were unsure. 

The poll comes as the nation’s highest court gears up to rule on one of the most high-profile abortion cases since the bench overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. 

Around 67 percent of Republicans said they were for an in-person mandate regarding mifepristone, while 37 percent of Democrats said the same. 

The Food and Drug Administration made changes in recent years, allowing mifepristone to be mailed, decreasing the dosage and allowing other professionals, other than physicians, to prescribe it.

Anti-abortion medical associations and doctors, represented by the Christian legal group Alliance Defending Freedom, want the judges to uphold an earlier appeals court ruling. If upheld, the drug’s labels would have to be changed, impacting the distribution and potentially some access to it. 

Respondents on both sides of the aisle said they would back a requirement in states with hard-line abortion bans to allow abortions if necessary to save the health of patients facing medical crises. 

Around 86 percent of Democrats and 77 percent of Republicans said they would support it. The percentage of Republicans supporting it was the same as the percentage of overall responders. 

The poll, conducted from May 7-14, had 3,934 U.S. respondents with a margin of error of 2 percentage points. 

The margin of error for Republicans and Democrats was 3 points.