Abortion & Texas Abortion Restrictions Oct 2021

NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist National Poll

Texas Abortion Restrictions Not What Americans Want

Two central tenets of the abortion restrictions legislated in Texas are unpopular with many Americans. 58% of Americans oppose limiting legal abortions up to the time cardiac activity is detected about 6 to 8 weeks into pregnancy. Nearly three in four Americans oppose private citizens being allowed to sue abortion providers or anyone who assists a woman in getting an abortion.

Limit Abortion to 6 to 8 Weeks
Do you support or oppose a law that allows abortions but only up to the time cardiac activity is detected about 6 to 8 weeks into pregnancy?
Source: NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist Poll National Adults. Interviews conducted September 20th through September 26th, 2021, n=1,220 MOE +/- 3.4 percentage points.
  • Americans across party lines oppose only allowing abortions until about 6 to 8 weeks into pregnancy. 61% of Democrats, 59% of Republicans, and 53% of independents are in opposition. Majorities of both women (63%) and men (53%) oppose the limits as well.

  • Most Democrats (90%), 74% of independents, and even a majority of Republicans (57%) oppose allowing private citizens to sue abortion providers or those who assist a woman in getting an abortion. 79% of women and 68% of men share this view.

The Texas legislation has placed the issue of abortion back on the political agenda in ways it has not been for decades, and the law is being used as a model for proposed legislation in other states.

"For some Americans, abortion is not acceptable under any circumstances, and for others the restrictions are too severe," says Lee M. Miringoff, Director of the Marist Poll. "In either case, the Texas initiative misses in the court of public opinion."