No one would ever suspect that Harvard/Harris abortion polls would be tilted in a pro-life direction. Therefore, the results of the latest poll, held from May 18-19, are a real shock.
#1. “More voters say abortion should only be allowed in cases of rape or incest.” 43%, to be exact.
Another 27% would allow abortion up to 15 weeks. The Supreme Court case heard on Dec. 1 over Mississippi’s law banning abortions after the 15th week.
#2. “Do you think a fetus is viable in…?” A whopping 39% said the child is viable after six weeks, paralleling the Texas Heartbeat Law. Another 13% said viability begins at 12 weeks. Another 17% said viability starts at 16 weeks.
#3. “In Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court ruled that women had the right to have an abortion up to the first 24 weeks of pregnancy. Do you think the Supreme Court should…?”
35% replied, “Repeal Roe v. Wade, leaving abortion laws entirely to the states.”
38% said, “Confirm Roe v. Wade as it is.” As presented, of course, the respondents would not know that the only thing that prevents abortions up to birth is to find an abortionist with a stomach that is strong enough. Another 19% said, “Make the abortion date 15 weeks instead of 24,” a restriction Roe doesn’t allow.
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It’s getting really interesting now. “If the court reversed Roe v. Wade and left all abortion laws entirely to the states, would you be for or against that change?” Almost exactly right: 49% favor this reversal, and 51% are against it.
They compare these results with the results of November 2021. 46% favor rolling back Roe, and 54% are against it – a net gain of 3%.
How much had people heard about Judge Alito’s leaked draft opinion? “Did you or did you not hear of a recent draft Supreme Court opinion publicly leaked showing that the court overturned federal abortion rights granted by Roe vs. Wade and allowed states to make their own decisions about abortion rights?”
Almost exactly three-quarters (76%) had heard it.
And then the politics of the leaked opinion: “Does this leak make you more likely to vote Democrat or Republican, or does it make no difference?” 34% said Republican, 32% said Democrat, and 34% said it wouldn’t make a difference.
Fascinating. The public is much closer to pro-life opinion than the media would have you believe.
LifeNews.com Note: Dave Andrusko is the editor of National Right to Life News and an author and editor of several books on abortion topics. This post originally appeared in National Right to Life News Today – an online column on pro-life issues.