According to the study, just over six in ten adults (61 percent) think abortion should be legal in all or most cases. A little more than a third (37 percent), on the other hand, want to ban them by law. Approval for unpunished access to abortions is higher overall today than it was a decade ago, it said.
Clear differences between Democrats and Republicans
According to the information, 80 percent of Democrats and Independents support the fundamental decision “Roe vs. Wade”. That’s eight percent more than in 2016 and 17 percent more than in 2007. In the landmark 1973 ruling, the judges ruled that state laws prohibiting abortion violate the United States Constitution. Since then, abortions have been possible almost without restriction in most US states. The views of Republicans, on the other hand, have hardly changed, it said. A third of Republican voters support a ban on abortion within the first six weeks after conception.
More than eight in 10 Democrats would like to allow abortion if the pregnancy threatens the woman’s life or health (84 percent) or the pregnancy is the result of rape (83 percent). Republicans agree only 62 and 56 percent respectively.
Who should be punished?
Party-political differences can also be found on the question of whether doctors and women should be punished for illegal abortions. Overall, 60 percent of respondents believe that doctors or providers should be penalized if they perform an abortion in a situation where it is illegal. Republicans are far more likely to support penalties than Democrats.
Four out of ten Republicans want to send doctors to jail for performing an illegal abortion, compared to just 13 percent of Democrats. And while about one in five Conservatives believe a woman should serve a prison sentence after having an illegal abortion, only 8 percent of Democrats say so. The definition, “Human life begins at conception, therefore a fetus is a person with rights,” is supported by 56 percent of Republicans. Almost a quarter of Democrats agree with this reading.
The survey result is also remarkable in view of the attitude of Americans along the generation lines. 74 percent of those under 30 believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases. This proportion falls to 62 percent among 30 to 49 year olds, to 55 percent among 50 to 64 year olds and to 54 percent among 65 year olds and older.
The opinion research institute conducted the representative survey in March among more than 10,000 adults.
Source: Nachrichten
