Rim Country Gazette: Poll: Massive majority of voters oppose state abortion bans that take away women's freedoms

Wednesday, June 12, 2019

Poll: Massive majority of voters oppose state abortion bans that take away women's freedoms

ATLANTA, GA - MAY 21: Women hold signs during a protest against recently passed abortion ban bills at the Georgia State Capitol building, on May 21, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. The Georgia "heartbeat" bill would ban abortion when a fetal heartbeat is detected. The Alabama abortion law, signed by Gov. Kay Ivey last week, includes no exceptions for cases of rape and incest, outlawing all abortions except when necessary to prevent serious health problems for the woman. Though women are exempt from criminal and civil liability, the new law punishes doctors for performing an abortion, making the procedure a Class A felony punishable by up to 99 years in prison (Photo by Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images)

Abortion bans passed in Alabama, Georgia, and other states are drawing a lot of attention from American voters, with 58% having heard about the bans—more than have heard about congressional investigations into Donald Trump, a trade war between the U.S. and China, or the 2020 Democratic presidential primary. That’s according to a recent poll from Navigator.

Alabama’s ban, which prohibits abortion even in cases of rape or incest, draws the strongest opposition, with just 24% support. In particular, 58% of Republicans said they oppose the Alabama ban and its lack of rape and incest exceptions, while opposition among Republicans dropped to just 28% when the pollster asked about “Recent new abortion bans that have been passed in Alabama, Georgia, Ohio, Louisiana, Missouri, and other states.”

The people polled strongly identified the abortion bans as “taking away women’s rights and freedoms”—67% said that was the effect of the laws. In other words, voters can clearly see what Republicans are doing with these bills, when they think about it.

It’s on us to be sure they don’t forget between now and November 2020.