Most Individuals additionally say girls must be allowed to journey for medical care – together with an abortion, a brand new KFF ballot finds.
Gracey Zhang for NPR
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Gracey Zhang for NPR
Most Individuals additionally say girls must be allowed to journey for medical care – together with an abortion, a brand new KFF ballot finds.
Gracey Zhang for NPR
Within the virtually two years since Roe v. Wade was overturned, the unintended penalties of abortion bans have turn into clearer.
NPR has reported on girls who had been denied care for miscarriages and high-risk pregnancies, together with Jaci Statton of Oklahoma, who was informed she needed to wait in a hospital car parking zone till her non-viable being pregnant grew to become life threatening.
Statton, who’s in her 20s, says hospital workers informed her, “We can not contact you until you’re crashing in entrance of us or your blood strain goes so excessive that you’re fixing to have a coronary heart assault.”
Tales like this have elevated consciousness of how abortion bans are impacting well being care throughout being pregnant. Which may be mirrored within the outcomes of a brand new ballot from the well being analysis group KFF, which finds there’s a broad consensus – 86% of Individuals – that girls in such pregnancy-related emergencies ought to have entry to abortion procedures.
This help crosses celebration traces – together with almost 8 in 10 Republicans, says KFF pollster Ashley Kirzinger.
“Whereas they could be anti-abortion most often, they do not wish to restrict entry to primary medical look after these girls who’re actually experiencing form of the worst-case situations,” she says.
There’s additionally robust help throughout celebration traces for permitting girls to journey for medical care – together with getting an abortion. And the ballot finds most individuals don’t need docs who carry out abortions – or girls who’ve them – to face legal fees.
“We see 8 in 10 Democrats, two-thirds of Independents and about half of Republicans who wish to defend docs who carry out abortions from going through both fines or jail time,” Kirzinger says.
This consists of defending docs who prescribe abortion drugs — 62% of respondents say well being care suppliers shouldn’t be prosecuted for mailing abortion drugs to sufferers who stay in states the place abortion is banned.
On the subject of the 2024 election, the ballot discovered that abortion isn’t the highest difficulty for many voters, though it does resonate strongly with sure teams.
Solely 12% of all voters say it is crucial difficulty. However girls of reproductive age (18 to 49), Black girls and ladies who stay in states with abortion bans had been extra more likely to rank abortion as crucial difficulty influencing their vote this November.
Selena Simmons-Duffin contributed to this story. Jane Greenhalgh edited the radio and digital variations of the story.
