Abortion by the numbers

Created
Mon, 17/04/2023 - 10:00
Updated
Mon, 17/04/2023 - 10:00
It’s not good news for the forced birth zealots: A big majority of Americans want to see the abortion pill mifepristone remain available. Even some who are more generally opposed to abortion hold this view. On a broader level, American women feel access to reproductive health care is getting harder today rather than easier, by about four to one.  There’s a red-blue state divide on the outlook for abortion rights: most who live in “red” states think abortion access is going to become more restricted for them.  But people see national agendas at work from the parties, nonetheless: half of Americans, and especially those who want abortion to be legal, think the Republican Party is trying to ban it nationwide, rather than let states decide. And most think Democrats are trying to make abortion available nationwide. Reaction in wake of initial federal court ruling After a Texas judge halted the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the abortion pill mifepristone, a two-thirds majority want to see the abortion pill mifepristone remain available in states where abortion is legal — a view that generally squares with the national majority who for years have said they’d prefer abortion remain legal in at least some instances. But even among those who’d see abortion illegal in most cases, there’s still a substantial number — about four in ten — who’d prefer mifepristone remain legal.  And these views are not purely partisan: almost half of Republicans think the medication ought to be available.  What’s next? So what should the Biden…