Just 13% of Americans want the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade, and majorities would support a law that “allows abortion at any time during pregnancy if there is no viability outside the womb” and one that requires insurance companies to cover abortion, according to a new poll from NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist. But beyond those high points are some signs that the right-wing war on reproductive freedom has scored some disinformation successes.
More than 60% of respondents, for instance, supported a 24-hour waiting period for abortion and requiring doctors to have hospital admitting privileges. Those policies were designed by Republicans not to make abortions safer or more responsible, but to make them more difficult to obtain. A waiting period isn’t a problem for a woman who has ample vacation and sick days and doesn’t have to travel, but for a woman with no paid time off who has to travel hundreds of miles and can’t afford a hotel room—an all-too-common scenario—it’s a major barrier to care. As for hospital admitting privileges, a study by Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health at the University of California, San Francisco, “found that an abortion provider having admitting privileges doesn’t appear to change how abortion patients receive hospital care.” According to the Guttmacher Institute, requirements that clinics or doctors have relationships with hospitals give hospitals “effective veto power over whether an abortion provider can exist,” particularly troubling given how many areas are serviced by Catholic-owned hospitals.
Still, this poll finds that we live in a country where 57% of people consider themselves pro-choice to just 35% who consider themselves pro-life. It’s a country that supports Roe v. Wade and sees Democrats as a better choice for abortion policy than Republicans. Now we just need politicians who govern that way.