More adults think access to abortion should be easier, Pew report finds

The number of adults living in states where abortion is banned or restricted who believe that access to abortion should be easier has grown since 2019, according to a new report from the Pew Research Center.

In states that implemented bans on nearly all abortions after the Dobbs decision last year, 43 percent of adults said they believe it should be easier to get an abortion where they live, compared to 31 percent in 2019. In states that have seen new restrictions, either implemented or tied up in legal disputes, 38 percent believe access should be easier, up from 27 percent in 2019. The numbers are also up in states without any new abortion restrictions, now at 27 percent compared to 24 percent in 2019.

The report, released Wednesday, included data from 5,079 respondents with a margin of error of +/- 1.7 percentage points. The survey was conducted between March 27 and April 2.

Overall support for abortion is also up since 1995, according to the report, but most of that change comes from an increase in support from Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents.

The percentage of adults who believe it would be somewhat easy or very easy to get an abortion where they live is down to 54 percent, from 65 percent in 2019. In 1995, 63 percent of Democrats and those leaning Democratic said abortion should be legal in all or most cases; in 2023, that number was up to 84 percent. Republican support for abortion saw a much smaller increase in support, up to 40 percent in 2023 from 39 percent in 1995.

Abortion access has become a defining issue in elections across the country, spreading into local races like the one for a Supreme Court seat in Wisconsin. As support for abortion access increases, lawmakers — particularly Republicans — have become more divided over how to handle the issue.