47% Of Americans Less Likely To Back Anti-Abortion Congressional Candidates, Poll Finds

Topline

Nearly half of all U.S. adults say they’re less likely to vote for a congressional candidate who opposes abortion rights, according to a Quinnipiac University poll published Wednesday, reflecting broad support for keeping abortion legal across the U.S.

Key Facts

Quinnipiac found 47% of adults are less likely to vote for a congressional candidate who opposes abortion rights, while 18% are more likely to vote for that candidate and 33% said it made no difference.

Opposition to pro-abortion-rights candidates was far less widespread than for anti-abortion-rights candidates: 22% of respondents said they were less likely to vote for a candidate who supports abortion rights, 41% said they were more likely and 36% said it made no difference.

Anti-abortion candidates were shunned by Democrats at a higher rate than they were embraced by Republicans: 38% of Republicans said they were more likely to vote for an anti-abortion candidate and 18% said they were less likely, while 76% of Democrats said they were less likely to vote for an anti-abortion-rights candidate and 6% said they were more likely.

Republicans who backed pro-abortion-rights candidates were more prevanent than Democrats who favored anti-abortion-rights candidates, with 15% of Republicans saying they were more likely to vote for a pro-abortion-rights candidate and 40% said they were less likely, while 68% of Democrats said they were more likely to vote for a pro-abortion rights candidate and 8% said they were less likely.

Quinnipiac found that men were more likely than women to be indifferent to a candidate’s position on abortion: 38% of men and 27% of women said it made no difference if a candidate opposed abortion rights, while 43% of men and 29% of women said it made no difference if a candidate supported abortion rights.

Quinnipiac surveyed 1,586 U.S. adults, including 1,421 registered voters, from May 12-16.

Big Number

65%. That’s the share of American adults who believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases, according to Quinnipiac, including 88% of Democrats and 38% of Republicans. Meanwhile, 30% of all poll respondents said abortion should be illegal in all or most cases, compared to 51% of Republicans and 9% of Democrats.

Key Background

About two weeks ago, Politico published a leaked Supreme Court draft opinion that would overturn the court’s 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade that found a woman’s right to choose to have an abortion is protected by the Constitution. This sparked a surge in abortion-related political advertising, especially among Democrats. Surveys by Morning Consult/Politico, Pew Research Group and other polling firms indicate that most Americans believe Roe v. Wade should be upheld and abortion should not be banned outright. Some GOP legislators are reportedly working with anti-abortion activists to advance a national abortion ban if Roe v. Wade is overturned and Republicans take control of Congress after the November midterms. However, most Republicans don’t want a national ban, CBS News/YouGov polling found, and some anti-abortion legislators have warned a national ban might run into constitutional problems. A bill that would have codified abortion protections nationally failed in the Senate on May 11 by a vote of 49-51, after Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and all 50 Republicans opposed it. A bill requires 60 votes to overcome a filibuster in a divided Senate.

Tangent

Quinnipiac also found that 54% of U.S. adults think former President Donald Trump should be allowed to return to Twitter, while 38% believe his permanent ban should remain in place. Elon Musk, whose offer to buy Twitter for $44 billion was accepted by the company’s board, said he would lift Trump’s ban. However, Trump said he would not return to Twitter even if the ban was removed, instead sticking to Truth Social, the “non-woke” microblogging site he founded.

Further Reading

“Plurality Of Americans Want Congress To Legalize Abortion Rights, Poll Finds” (Forbes)