Poll: Plurality of Americans Want Abortion Funding Banned in Health Care Bills
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
September 17, 2009
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — A new poll shows a plurality of Americans want abortion funding banned in any health care "reform" legislation that becomes law. The Rasmussen survey also shows that just 13 percent want the health care bills to make it a requirement that abortions are funded.
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds 48% believe any government-subsidized health care plan should be prohibited from covering abortions.
Another 13 percent of Americans support abortion funding while 32% favor a more neutral approach with no requirements in either direction. The rest of those poll did not answer the question or didn’t know where they stood.
The Rasmussen survey found no consensus for abortion funding even from Americans who favor the government-run health care plans pending in Congress while those who oppose the plans strongly oppose abortion funding.
Among those who currently support passage of the legislation, 22% want a prohibition banning abortion coverage and 22% want a mandate requiring such coverage. Forty-seven percent of the plan’s supporters prefer the neutral approach, and nine percent are unsure.
Among those who oppose the plan, 72% favor a prohibition against coverage of abortions while five percent favor abortion funding.
Rasmussen’s post-poll analysis said it is not clear how many people would switch their position in favor of the health care plans if abortion funding is included or how many who oppose the health care bills would support them if abortion funding is removed.
Looking at the numbers from a partisan angle, 72 percent of Republicans favor an abortion funding ban while 43% of Democrats prefer a neutral approach. Among those not affiliated with either major party, a plurality, 48 percent, want a ban on abortion funding.
Asking all Americans about abortion in general, Rasmussen found 52 percent say it is too easy to get an abortion in the United States and another 58 percent say abortion is morally wrong most of the time.
The Rasmussen survey follows a poll conducted by Public Opinion Strategies and released earlier this month that also showed very little support for abortion funding.
That showed 43 percent of adult voters would be less likely to support a health care reform bill that funds abortions while just 8 percent would be more supportive.
The poll found voter intensity is strong with over one-third (36%) of voters saying they would be much less likely to support the plan.
Public Opinion Strategies found 58% of Americans disagree with the statement, “If the government is going to make a public health plan available for all Americans it has an obligation to provide abortion services under that plan.” Just 38 percent support it.
The analysis shows 80 percent of Republicans disagree, 60 percent of independents disagree and 39 percent of Democrats disagree.
Another 55% of Americans agree with the statement, “Whatever my opinion on the issue, I think it would be wrong for the government to pay for abortions," compared with 42 percent who don’t agree.
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