UPenn Poll: Vast Majority of Republican Adults Support Abortion Exceptions

Despite Democrat political narratives to the contrary, a vast majority of Republicans support abortion exceptions in instances of rape, incest, and the health of the mother, according to a new poll.

Support for legal abortions is widespread in America, as 86% of American adults say abortions should be permitted in the cases of rape or incest, including 76% of Republicans, 88% of independents, and 94% of self-described Democrats in the poll released Monday by the Penn Program on Opinion Research and Election Studies (PORES)/SurveyMonkey.

Overall, 91% of American adults support an endangered mother's health exception for abortion as Democrats are using the Supreme Court overruling of Roe v. Wade abortion law precedent as a midterm voting issue against Republicans.

Broken down by party ideology for the mother's health exception in the poll:

• 86% of those leaning Republican.
• 93% identifying as independent.
• 95% of those leaning Democrat.

Even Republican-led states that are moving aggressively to restrict abortion, including up to the discovery of a fetal heartbeat as soon as six weeks since inception, 85% of adults say abortion should be legal in the case of rape or incest.

That total is even higher in states where abortions are restricted, where 90% of adults say abortions should be legal in the event a mother's health is seriously endangered, according to the poll.

Amid the struggles of the Biden administration on the economy, inflation, crime, and rising risks of war, Democrats have sought to make abortion the issue of these midterm elections. It is working: 80% say abortion is important to their votes.

Broken down by party affiliation, those saying abortion is important in how they will vote:

• 90% of those identifying as Democrat.
• 78% identifying as independent.
• 74% identifying as Republican.

As for how to settle the debate on abortion law, a two-thirds majority of Americans polled said they think abortion law should be decided by public referendum and not lawmakers, states, government, or the courts.

Broken down by party on those who want abortion law settled by direct vote:

• 59% of those leaning Republican.
• 70% of those leaning independent.
• 73% of those leaning Democrat.

The PORES/SurveyMonkey poll was conducted Sept. 14-Oct. 3 among 21,730 American adults and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.

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