Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
More In US Say They'll Vote Only For Politicians With Same Abortion Stance
More than a quarter of registered US voters say they will only vote for candidates who share their beliefs on abortion, according to a poll released on Wednesday, a total (28%) one point higher than last year. The survey, from Gallup, was released before the first anniversary of Dobbs v Jackson, by which conservatives on the supreme court removed the right to abortion that had been safeguarded since Roe v Wade in 1973. A majority of Americans think abortion should be legal at least in some form. Since Dobbs, abortion rights has been seen as a vital motivating factor in a succession of Democratic successes. (Salam, 6/21)
Republicans have a problem brewing with women. A USA TODAY/Suffolk University poll finds that independent women are increasingly at odds with the GOP on cultural issues such as banning abortion and opposing LGBTQ rights. That creates a risky situation for the Republican Party among one of the nation's most crucial groups of swing voters. (Page, 6/23)
When the Supreme Court overturned the federal right to abortion, between 50 and 60 percent of Americans wanted the right to stay in place. But while abortion was legal throughout the country up to a certain point in pregnancy, Americans had the luxury of not having strong or cohesive views on the topic, or thinking much about abortion at all. Their views were messy and sometimes contradictory, and there was little evidence suggesting that the issue was a political priority for anyone except Christian conservatives. In the fall of 2021, with the Dobbs case looming on the horizon, many Americans thought that Roe wasn鈥檛 in real danger. Now, a FiveThirtyEight analysis finds that after one of the most disruptive Supreme Court decisions in generations, many Americans 鈥 including women, young people, and Democrats 鈥 are reporting more liberal views on abortion than major pollsters have seen in years. Even conservatives, although the changes are slight, are increasingly supportive of abortion rights. (Thomson-DeVeaux, 6/22)
In the year since, polling shows that what had been considered stable ground has begun to shift: For the first time, a majority of Americans say abortion is 鈥渕orally acceptable.鈥 A majority now believes abortion laws are too strict. They are significantly more likely to identify, in聽the language of polls, as 鈥減ro-choice鈥 over 鈥減ro-life,鈥 for the first time in two decades. And more voters than ever say they will vote only for a candidate who shares their views on abortion, with a twist: While Republicans and those identifying as 鈥減ro-life鈥 have historically been most likely to see abortion as a litmus test, now they are less motivated by it, while Democrats and those identifying as 鈥減ro-choice鈥 are far more so. (Zernike, 6/23)
On the anniversary of the Supreme Court ruling that overturned the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, 6 in 10 voters remain opposed to the court鈥檚 removing federal protection of the right to abortion, according to results from a new national NBC News poll. Nearly 80% of female voters ages 18-49, two-thirds of suburban women, 60% of independents and even a third of Republican voters say they disapprove. (Murray, 6/22)