Poll: 67% of Florida women support a nationwide right to abortion

Two-thirds of Florida women of reproductive age would support a nationwide right to abortion, including roughly half of those who identify as Republican, a new survey found.

The survey, conducted by the KFF, also found that 60% of Florida women of reproductive age fear they would not be able to get an abortion even if it was medically necessary to preserve their life or health. One-third of women polled said they would not know where they could get an abortion or find the information if they wanted or needed one. The margin of error for the survey is 6%.

The findings will be of interest to both supporters and opponents of a ballot initiative that asks voters to enshrine the right to an abortion in Florida’s constitution. Amendment 4 would prevent state lawmakers from banning abortion before viability of a fetus, roughly around 24 weeks of pregnancy. It requires a 60% majority to pass.

KFF, a health policy research and news organization, polled 512 Florida women aged between 18 and 49 in May and June as part of a larger nationwide survey on women’s health of almost 4,000 women.

The national survey found that almost one in five women of reproductive age have changed their contraceptive practices as a result of Roe vs. Wade being overturned. The changes included starting birth control, getting sterilized, or purchasing emergency contraceptive pills like Plan B.

Florida is not the only state asking voters to decide on abortion. Measures either restricting or protecting access to the procedure are on the November General Election ballot in 11 states, KFF data shows.

Florida adopted a six-week ban on most abortions on May 1. The law includes exceptions for rape and incest up until 15 weeks and to preserve the life of the mother through pregnancy. The number of terminations being performed has fallen significantly since, state data shows.

Despite, the state’s ban, access to abortion medication remains legal. Only one in five of the women polled were aware of that option and only 9% knew that abortion medication can be obtained online, the survey found.

The findings suggest there is a worrying level of misinformation about terminations and what access is legal, said Brittni Frederiksen, KFF’s associate director of women’s health policy.

“We really wanted to survey the population most affected by abortion restrictions and the population that is having abortions,” Frederiksen said. “In states like Florida where it’s severely limited, people may not feel there are a lot of options.”

Supporters of Amendment 4 said the findings are more evidence that a majority of women want access to an abortion. The restrictions put in place by many states after the repeal of Roe vs. Wade have proved harmful to women’s health and well-being, said Natasha Sutherland, communications director for Floridians Protecting Freedom, the group that led the petition drive to get Amendment 4 on the ballot.

“In study after study and poll after poll, most women, regardless of party affiliation, agree that decisions about abortion should be left to us – in consultation with our doctors, and not politicians,” said Sutherland. “Amendment 4 will stop Florida’s extreme abortion ban by putting these decisions back where they belong: with women and their doctors, not politicians.”

Mat Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, said the survey will not change how his group campaigns against the amendment.

He said the ballot language of Amendment 4 is too vague and, as a result, would allow abortions up until term, a claim that is denied by supporters of the amendment. The proposed amendment states that lawmakers cannot restrict access to abortions “before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider.”

Even those who support limited abortions will not support a measure that would effectively undo any and all abortion laws and existing health and safety regulations around the procedure, Staver said.

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