It' has now been a full year since S.B. 8, the so-called Heartbeat bill, made getting an abortion difficult. With the Texas trigger law in effect, abortion is essentially outlawed in Texas.
Polling done in late June by PerryUndem, was taken until the day the Supreme Court overturned Roe V. Wade. It shows 60% of Texans surveyed believe abortion should be available in all or most cases. 11% of Texans surveyed want to ban abortion in all cases.
Dyana Limon-Mercado, Executive Director of Planned Parenthood Texas Votes believes this will motivate voters ahead of the November elections, and those who had privately supported abortion rights are now speaking out. "In other recent wins, like in Kansas and Alaska, we've seen strong support for abortion access being a key indicator of those elections."
Voters in Kansas kept abortion legal and in Alaska a Democrat won a special congressional election.
She says 49% of Texas voters are concerned about their own rights, and 53% say they are motivated a lot to make sure they vote this fall based on this issue. 35% of Republican women believe abortion should be available in all or most cases.
68% of Texas voters of reproductive age (18 to 44) say they can envision a scenario in which abortion may be the best option for them or a partner
67% of Texas voters agree that people should be able to make their own decisions on abortion without the government interfering
72% of Texas voters say they don't struggle with views on abortion, nor is it a religious issue for them personally
Limon-Mercado says there's a reason so many Texas politicians are among the 11% that oppose all abortion. "Through gerrymandering and the redistricting process, many people in the GOP have carved themselves out into districts where the only race they actually have to run in is the Republican primary. I think that's reflective of the what you see, where that super-minority, the 11% of Texas voters, who believe abortion should be outlawed in all cases. It's a by-product of the redistricting process." She notes statewide elections are not gerrymandered.
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