Report: Americans Support Legal Access to Abortion Pill

The May 2023 Daily Kos/Civiqs Poll asked 1,159 registered voters in the United States about access to the abortion pill, abortion rights, and their personal feelings about abortion.

Access to Medical Abortion

The Supreme Court recently ruled that the abortion pill mifepristone should remain available. A large majority of Americans (62%) support this decision, with only 25% opposed and 12% unsure. Both women (63%) and men (61%) support the Supreme Court’s decision.

More broadly, three-quarters of Americans (73%) believe that mifepristone should be legal (54%) or legal under certain circumstances (19%) in their state. This includes almost all Democrats (93%) and a substantial majority of Independents (73%). Half of Republicans agree, with 51% saying the pill should be legal (17%) or legal under certain circumstances (34%).

Nearly half of voters (48%) think that doctors should be able to prescribe abortion medications like mifepristone and misoprostol through telehealth appointments. The remainder either do not think these medications should be prescribed virtually (40%) or are unsure (13%).

Abortion Rights

American public opinion remains strongly in favor of abortion rights. A majority of Americans (59%) think that abortion should be legal in all (32%) or most (27%) circumstances. Another 29% believe abortion should be illegal in most, but not all cases. Only 8% of Americans want to make abortion illegal in all cases.

Voters want to preserve or expand access to abortion in their state -- not restrict it. Support for new restrictions on abortion access is confined to a small minority of voters. Just 22% of Americans think that abortion should be restricted more in their state, compared to 33% who are satisfied with current levels of abortion access, and 33% who believe abortion should be easier to access in their state.

Many voters are worried that access to abortion will be restricted in their state by a federal law or court decision. More than 4 in 10 voters (44%) are concerned about losing access to abortion because of a national change to abortion policy, including 47% of women and 41% of men.

A majority of voters (52%) think that the Supreme Court made the wrong decision when overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022, including 55% of women. A similar 49% of voters overall would support Congress passing a bill to codify the abortion rights granted in the original 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision, with 36% opposed.

Voters do not believe that doctors who perform abortions, or women who terminate their pregnancies, should be subject to legal consequences. A substantial majority (62%) believe that doctors should be able to facilitate or perform abortions without any fear of legal consequences, while 26% think that those doctors should face fines or imprisonment.

The disparity is even more stark when it comes to women who receive abortions: 64% of voters think women should be able to make their own choices about pregnancies and abortions without fear of legal consequences. One-fifth of Americans (20%) think women who terminate their pregnancies should face fines or imprisonment, and 16% say they are unsure.

Personal Values versus Public Policy

Americans believe that abortion should be legal and available -- including many who are personally against abortion, but do not believe the government should prevent a woman from making that decision for herself. Overall, 42% of voters support the right to abortion both personally and as policy. Another 27% say they are personally against abortion but think it is a decision that the government should not be involved in. Just 26% of voters personally believe abortion is wrong and should be illegal.

Among Republicans, older voters are more supportive of abortion rights. Republicans aged 18-34 mostly believe that abortion should be illegal (64%). Fewer Republicans over 65 think abortion should be illegal (49%), and 42% of older Republicans either support abortion rights (9%) or think abortion should be legal despite personal opposition (33%).

Most Americans say that if a friend or loved one was choosing to have an abortion, they would support them, regardless of their personal feelings towards abortion. Many (37%) would provide support without question. Another 38% would want to make sure their friend or loved one considered all of their options, but would support their final decision regardless. About one in five (21%) would not be able to support their decision.

When thinking about the issue of abortion, significantly more Americans describe themselves as “pro-choice” (45%) than “pro-life” (33%), with 14% who consider themselves both, and 6% who feel that neither label applies.

By a margin of 49% to 31%, most Americans think that their opinion on the issue of abortion is closer to Democrats than Republicans in their state. Among Independents, 45% feel closer to Democrats on the issue of abortion, versus 24% who are closer to Republicans, and 26% who say they are closer to neither. Only two in three Republican voters (67%) feel that their opinion on abortion is closer to Republicans in their state; 9% are closer to Democrats, 16% feel close to neither party, and 8% are unsure.

Civiqs surveyed 1,159 registered voters in the United States from April 29 - May 2, 2023. The survey was conducted online, among selected members of the Civiqs research panel. Sampled individuals were emailed by Civiqs and responded using a personalized link to the survey at civiqs.com. The survey results are weighted by age, race, gender, education, party identification, and region to be representative of the population of registered voters in the United States. The general design effect due to weighting is 1.06. The survey has a margin of error of ±3.0% at the 95% confidence level, accounting for the design effect.