Poll Shows 64% of Americans Favor Parental Notification Before Abortions on Teen Girls

State   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Jul 18, 2022   |   12:04PM   |   Washington, DC

A new Rasmussen poll released today shows a strong majority of Americans support parental notification laws that help parents know when their teen daughter is considering an abortion.

While states across the nation are protesting babies from abortion entirely with abortion bans and heartbeat laws, Americans clearly think there should be limits on abortions in blue states where abortion is still legal. Even many voters who call themselves “pro-choice” on the issue of abortion have concerns when underage girls are involved. That’s what the new Rasmussen poll showed.

A new national telephone and online survey by Rasmussen Reports and Real Impact finds that 64% of Likely U.S. voters believe that abortionists should be required to notify parents of a minor girl before doing an abortion on any girl under the age of 18.  Only 25% oppose parental notification requirements, while another 11% are not sure.

And voters support parental consent as well. By a margin of more than 2-to-1, voters believe parental permission should be required before an abortion is performed on girls under 18, with 60% in favor of requiring parental permission and just 29% against it. Another 10% are not sure.

Majorities of both men (63%) and women voters (57%) believe parental permission should be required before a minor gets an abortion.

The issue of abortion and minors is making headlines right now over a case out of Ohio where an illegal immigrant allegedly raped a 10-year-old girl — who reportedly was taken to Indiana for an abortion. The Rasmussen poll also found a plurality of Americans support a requirement that abortionists report rape to law enforcement before doing an abortion on an underage girl.

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According to the poll, fewer people are calling themselves pro-choice as news about the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe subsides. Rasmusen found 5% fewer people callingthemselves pro-choice this month compared with last month.

Eighty-one percent (81%) of Republicans, 42% of Democrats and 58% of voters not affiliated with either party say parental permission should be required before a minor gets an abortion. Eighty-five percent (85%) of pro-life voters favor requiring parental permission, but so do 37% of pro-choice voters.

Support for parental notification is even higher, with 82% of Republicans, 48% of Democrats and 62% of unaffiliated voters believing that abortion providers should be required to notify parents before performing abortions on girls under age 18. Eight-five percent (85%) of pro-life voters and 43% of pro-choice voters favor parental notification.

Fifty-seven percent (57%) of Republicans, 36% of Democrats and 37% of unaffiliated voters think abortion providers should be required to notify law enforcement before performing abortions on pregnant minors who are younger than the age of consent. A majority (51%) of Democrats oppose requiring notification of law enforcement in such cases, as do 26% of Republicans and 42% of unaffiliated voters.

Majorities of every racial group – 64% of whites, 57% Black Voters and 67% of other minorities – favor parental notification when minors seek abortion. Nearly half (49%) of minorities voters and 46% of whites consider themselves generally pro-choice on the issue of abortion. Forty-five percent (45%) of whites, 38% of Black voters and 37% of other minorities consider themselves pro-choice.

Joe Biden’s strongest supporters are most opposed to requiring law enforcement notification when an underage minor gets an abortion. Among voters who Strongly Approve of Biden’s job performance as president, 52% are against requiring abortion providers to notify law enforcement before performing an abortion on pregnant minors who are younger than the legal age of consent in a state. By contrast, among voters who Strongly Disapprove of Biden’s performance, 54% are in favor of law enforcement notification in such cases.

The survey of 1,000 U.S. Likely Voters was conducted on July 10-11, 2022 by Rasmussen Reports and Real Impact. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC.