In 2022, the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) commissioned a survey to explore voters’ attitudes towards “religious refusals” and “conscience clauses” and provision of emergency abortion care. This survey* was in the field when the Supreme Court issued its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, overturning the constitutional right to an abortion. The survey gauged voters’ beliefs regarding refusals of abortion care based on personal or religious beliefs and in cases when patients require emergency abortion care. It also confirmed what other polls consistently demonstrate – that a large majority of voters (65 percent) believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases.
These survey results are particularly relevant now, as there is a pending case before the Supreme Court that will decide whether states can prevent patients from getting the emergency abortion care they are entitled to under a federal law, the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA). The results from this survey show that voters overwhelmingly support patients receiving emergency abortion care – including in states were abortion is banned — demonstrating how out of step anti-abortion activists, state lawmakers, and judges are in denying these services.
To read the report, click here.