Poll Shows Support for Pro-Abortion Health Care Reform Bill Hits New Low
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
September 28, 2009
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — A new Rasmussen Reports poll shows the support for the pro-abortion health care "reform" proposals pending in Congress has reached its lowest levels since the debate began. Just 41% of voters nationwide now favor the health care reform proposed by President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats.
That’s down two points from a week ago and the lowest level of support yet measured by Rasmussen, one of the top-rated pollsters.
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds 56 percent of Americans are opposed to the three plans, each of which contain abortion funding.
"The overall picture remains one of stability," pollster Scott Rasmussen explains.
"Today’s record low support for the plan of 41% is just a point lower than the results found twice before. With the exception of a slight bounce earlier this month following the president’s nationally televised speech to Congress to promote the plan, support for it has remained in the low-to-mid 40s since early July," he said. "During that same time period, opposition has generally stayed in the low-to-mid 50s."
"Intensity has been with the opposition from the beginning of the public debate. Currently, among all voters 23% Strongly Favor the legislative effort and 43% are Strongly Opposed," he continued.
Also, from the beginning of the debate, there has been a huge partisan divide as 75% of Democrats favor the plan while 79 percent of Republicans are opposed as are 72% of the unaffiliated voters.
Senior citizens are less supportive of the plan than younger voters as just 33 percent support the government-run health care measures 59% are opposed. The intensity gap among seniors is significant as only 16% of the over-65 voters strongly favor the health care restructuring bills while 46 percent are strongly opposed.
Those numbers come after pro-life groups began exposing the rationing found in the latest of the three pieces of legislation, the Baucus bill, that lawmakers will consider this week in a Senate committee.
The new Rasmussen poll also discovered that, for the first time ever, a slight plurality of voters now express doubt that the legislation will become law this year. Forty-six percent say passage is likely while 47% say it is not.
Three polls have found that voters do not want abortion funding included in the bills.
Conducted by International Communications Research from September 16-20, the most recent survey indicated 67 percent of those surveyed opposed requiring people to pay for abortion coverage through their taxes and 56 percent opposed making them do so through their insurance premiums.
The survey also asked: “If the choice were up to you, would you want your own insurance policy to include abortion?” Sixty-eight percent of U.S. adults said ‘No’ and only 24 percent said ‘Yes.’
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.
And a more recent Rasmussen poll found a plurality of Americans don’t want abortion funding in the health care bills.
The survey showed 48% believe any government-subsidized health care plan should be prohibited from covering abortions. Just 13 percent want the health care bills to make it a requirement that abortions are funded.
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