Protesters maintain indicators as they march in opposition to the anti-abortion legislation S.B. 8 outdoors the Texas state capitol on Could 29, 2021 in Austin.
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Protesters maintain indicators as they march in opposition to the anti-abortion legislation S.B. 8 outdoors the Texas state capitol on Could 29, 2021 in Austin.
Sergio Flores/Getty Photos
One yr after Texas applied what was then probably the most restrictive abortion legislation within the nation, a majority of Texas voters are expressing robust help for abortion rights.
In a brand new survey, six in 10 voters stated they help abortion being “obtainable in all or most circumstances,” and plenty of say abortion can be a motivating subject on the poll field in November. In the meantime, 11% say they favor a complete ban on abortion.
“We have identified that politicians in Texas and throughout the nation have been enacting dangerous abortion bans. We have identified that they have been out of step with what Texans need, and now we have now the info to show that,” stated Carisa Lopez, senior political director for the Texas Freedom Community, certainly one of a number of reproductive rights teams that commissioned the ballot.
Texas Freedom Community, a progressive nonprofit based by former Deliberate Parenthood President Cecile Richards, describes its mission as monitoring and combating again in opposition to the non secular proper in Texas.
Polling agency PerryUndem surveyed 2,000 Texas voters in late June, simply earlier than the Dobbs determination was issued. The ballot had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 proportion factors.
The information launch comes one yr after the implementation of S.B. 8, which depends on civil lawsuits to implement a prohibition on most abortions after about six weeks.
Pollster Tresa Undem stated she believes the difficulty is prone to inspire turnout amongst supporters of abortion rights in states together with Texas in November.
“I believe that is in all probability why in Texas we’re seeing a shift within the Texas voters changing into extra pro-choice — as a result of there’s been that yr of S.B. 8, and other people experiencing that,” Undem stated.
Due to S.B. 8, Texas had offered an early instance of the impression of restrictive abortions legal guidelines, months earlier than the U.S. Supreme Court docket launched its Dobbs v. Jackson Ladies’s Well being Group determination overturning Roe v. Wade and different abortion-rights precedent.
In response to that ruling in late June, the state’s set off ban — additionally handed in 2021 in anticipation of Supreme Court docket motion — additionally took impact, making abortion fully unlawful in Texas besides to avoid wasting a affected person’s life throughout a medical emergency. Medical doctors say that exception is slim and topic to interpretation, and a few say they concern terminating pregnancies for sufferers dealing with medical crises.
Anti-abortion demonstrators take part within the Texas March for Life on January 15, 2022 in Dallas, Texas.
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Anti-abortion demonstrators take part within the Texas March for Life on January 15, 2022 in Dallas, Texas.
Brandon Bell/Getty Photos
Undem says she’s seeing rising help for abortion rights amongst a number of key voting blocs together with ladies, Latinos, and youthful voters.
Among the many key races this November is a gubernatorial matchup between Democrat Beto O’Rourke, an abortion rights supporter, and Republican incumbent Greg Abbott, who’s been a vocal opponent of abortions and signed S.B. 8 into legislation final yr. Abbott has maintained a constant lead in a number of polls.
The survey discovered that O’Rourke supporters listed abortion entry among the many prime points motivating their votes, whereas Abbott supporters listed different points as the next precedence, together with border safety, inflation, and the economic system.
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