Poll: Majority thinks fetal heartbeat abortion bans aren’t too restrictive
The Hill 16 May 2019
Family First Comment: Similar to polling recently done in New Zealand.
#FollowYourHeart
More than half of registered voters believe that laws banning abortion after the sixth week of pregnancy are not too restrictive, according to a new Hill-HarrisX survey.
The May 10-11 poll found that 21 percent of registered voters said that such abortion bans are “too lenient” while 34 percent said they believe they are “just right.”
Forty-five percent of respondents said they believe the laws are “too restrictive.”
Proponents of abortion rights have mounted legal challenges to new regulations passed by a number of states, but the Hill-Harris poll shows that in the court of public opinion, the laws do not currently appear to have sparked majority opposition.
Following Brett Kavanaugh‘s appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court, a number of Republican-controlled states have passed legislation aiming to reduce access to abortion, in the hopes of sparking a legal challenge that could lead to the high court reconsidering its landmark 1970 Roe v. Wade decision which legalized medical termination of pregnancies.
Opponents of the state laws — which ban abortion procedures after a fetal heartbeat can be detected — have argued that they place undue burdens on women, citing research that many do not know they are pregnant at six weeks of gestation.
The poll, notably, found comparatively little difference between women and men on the question.
Forty-three percent of male respondents said the laws, sometimes referred to as “heartbeat bills,” were too restrictive while 47 percent of women said the same. The margin of difference between the two sexes is not statistically significant.
There were stronger differences between age groups, however, with older respondents being much more likely to believe the new laws are too restrictive.
READ MORE: https://thehill.com/hilltv/what-americas-thinking/443879-poll-majority-of-voters-think-6-week-abortion-bans-arent-too
