Poll: 7 in 10 oppose limits to abortion access

Nearly 7 out of 10 registered voters oppose government restrictions on abortion, according to a new poll from NARAL Pro-Choice America, a prominent pro-abortion rights group.

The survey of registered voters found that 68.7 percent said that government should not restrict a woman’s access to abortion. About 24.7 percent said they believe having an abortion was morally wrong and should be illegal.

{mosads}Of those generally opposed to restrictions, 23.2 percent of respondents said they believed having an abortion is morally acceptable and should be legal, while 45.5 percent said they are personally against abortion but don’t believe the government should prevent a woman from making that choice.

“This poll reinforces what anti-choice politicians have known for some time — that regardless of voters’ personal views on abortion, the majority of us hold the view that abortion access should be protected, legal and safe,” said Erika West, political director at NARAL.

The poll comes ahead of November’s midterm elections, with Democrats and abortion rights groups rallying to turn out female voters at the polls.

To mobilize female voters, Democrats have also seized on the Supreme Court’s ruling in Hobby Lobby v. Burwell earlier this summer allowing “closely-held” private businesses to opt out of ObamaCare’s birth control mandate on the grounds of religious freedom.

Democrats have hammered Republicans over opposition to abortion rights and on birth-control access, charging them with waging a “war against women.” Republicans counter that Democrats are trying to distract voters from other issues.

Democrats see their push on abortion and birth control as essential to holding on to the Senate in November’s vote.

West said the poll is also a signal to candidates in competitive Senate races that a majority of voters aren’t in line with their views.

Another recent poll conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Research found Democrats overall were slightly trailing Republicans in 12 major Senate battleground states but attracting women voters on those issues.

Republicans are also pushing back, with lawmakers calling for allowing birth control to be available over the counter without a doctor’s prescription.

The NARAL survey was conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, which surveyed 800 registered voters from Aug. 9-12.

This story was updated at 1:40 p.m.