12 percent of democrat voters blame Biden for the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
As we rapidly approach election day in November, reproductive rights will be on the ballot in more ways than one. From the deeply polarizing presidential election to several state-based measures that will offer Americans the chance to codify abortion rights where they live, the topic will be front of mind for voters — and a recent survey from the Pew Research Center offers insight into what, exactly, they’re thinking about abortion right now.
Where we stand with abortion sentiments in 2024
The Pew Research Center survey (which was conducted from April 8-14, 2024, with a pool of 8,709 American adults) showed that abortion sentiments still break down by party line. Eighty-five percent of democrats and left-leaning independents said abortion should be legal in all or most cases, while only 41 percent of republicans and right-leaning independents agreed.
With that said, support for abortion has generally risen across the political spectrum since Roe was overturned in 2022: 63 percent of Americans said that abortion should be legal in all or most cases in this most recent survey, which shows a four percent increase in support from 2021. Similarly, slightly more than half of Americans (54 percent) agreed with the statement “the decision about whether to have an abortion should belong solely to the pregnant woman.” That same percentage of Americans also supported the legalization of abortion medication.
Of course, sentiments on this controversial topic aren’t just split along partisan lines — they’re also impacted by generational, race, and educational divides. Per this latest Pew survey, younger Americans are much more likely to say abortion should be legal in “all or most” cases. Black and Asian adults are more likely to support legal abortion than white adults, and educated adults are more likely to support legal abortion than uneducated adults.
Do Americans blame Biden for the fall of Roe?
Given what’s at stake with reproductive rights in America right now, you might imagine that pro-abortion voters would be eager to back President Joe Biden, whose administration firmly stands behind a woman’s right to choose, for re-election this fall — but a recent pair of New York Times polls paints a more complicated picture. According to the surveys (one NYT/Siena College poll was conducted in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, and Wisconsin, while another NYT/Philadelphia Inquirer/Siena College poll was conducted in Pennsylvania), nearly one in five voters blame Biden for the constitutional overturn of Roe in 2022.
Per The NYTimes, conservative voters were more likely to hold this belief — but 12 percent of democrats shared the belief, too. One pro-abortion, democrat voter named Terri Yonemura told the paper, “I think the buck stops with him, so he had the ability to fight that, and that’s not what I’m hearing that he did.” As for what she was going to do, come November, she said she definitely wouldn’t vote for Trump, and in fact, might not vote at all.
To put it lightly, this kind of fractional discord in Democratic sentiment could be a major problem for Biden in his bid for re-election. Multiple polls from early May reflect a Trump advantage in five out of six swing states; Wisconsin is the only swing state that reflects a slight Biden advantage. Of course, if there’s anything America has learned in the last decade, it’s to take polling data with a major grain of salt — but one can safely say that any number of democrat voters choosing not to vote for Biden over abortion discontent is a bad number, from the perspective of his campaign team.
It’s unclear if Biden or Trump will make reproductive rights a major part of their stump speech in the coming months — but the Biden administration has indicated a focus on abortion protections this spring. In April, the administration released a rule that aims to create privacies for women seeking abortion, which would effectively ban any disclosures of health information related to reproductive health. On the day the rule was announced, Jennifer Klein, director of the White House Gender Policy Council, told reporters, “No one should have their medical records used against them, their doctor, or their loved one just because they sought or received lawful reproductive health care.”
Earlier this year, Vice President Kamala Harris sat down with Katie for an episode of Next Question, and they discussed the topic of abortion at length. “My ultimate goal is that we will build up the support to build and get a Congress that will pass a bill to restore the protections of Roe into law,” Harris said. “And President Joe Biden will sign it.”
