Press Release
New Polling Shows 9 in 10 Voters in Arizona Support the Freedom to Decide
For Immediate Release: Monday, February 28, 2022
Contact: [email protected]
Strong majority support for reproductive freedom in Arizona shows how out of touch legislators pushing three anti-choice bills this session are
Phoenix — Today NARAL Pro-Choice Arizona released new Arizona polling from Change Research, conducted in both English and Spanish, showing strong majority support for reproductive freedom. The new poll underscores how out of touch Arizona Republican politicians are with their constituents when it comes to reproductive freedom and abortion access.
The new poll shows that a large majority (90%) of voters in Arizona agree, with 78% in strong agreement, that each of us should have the freedom to decide how and when we start or grow a family, free from political interference. This includes 89% of independent voters, 82% of Republicans, and 87% of Latinx voters. The polling also found that while only 18% of Republicans would only vote for a candidate who supports banning abortion, 58% of Democrats would only vote for a candidate that opposes banning abortion.
NARAL Pro-Choice America Southwest Regional Director Caroline Mello Roberson released the following statement in response:
“When it comes to access to abortion and reproductive freedom, Arizona’s anti-choice, anti-freedom lawmakers could not be more out of touch with Arizonans. This polling is clear: There is a resounding consensus in Arizona in support of reproductive freedom. Politicians in Arizona are taking cues from national anti-choice extremists rather than the people they are supposed to represent. With the constitutional right to abortion under unprecedented threat at the U.S. Supreme Court, Arizonans are in danger of losing, overnight, the right to abortion in their state. Arizonans are fighting to defend their freedom to decide, and it’s time Arizona lawmakers listen.”
Other highlights from the poll:
- 80% of respondents say medical professionals should never be threatened with fines or jail time for providing health services their patients’ request. Two anti-choice bills moving right now in the legislature—SB 1164 and HB 2811—would criminalize physicians for providing abortion care.
- 82% of respondents agree that one-size-fits-all laws simply don’t work when people are making personal medical decisions.
- 72% of respondents oppose bills modeled after Texas’ vigilante-enforced ban on abortion at about six weeks of pregnancy (SB 8), such as Arizona’s HB 2483.
- Nearly 60% of respondents are more likely to vote for a candidate who would vote to repeal Arizona’s 121-year-old law that could ban all abortion care in the state if Roe v. Wade falls and punish a doctor who provides abortion care with jail time.
Already, anti-choice state lawmakers in Arizona introduced multiple bills, including HB 2483, modeled after Texas’ unprecedented vigilante-enforced ban on abortion; and SB 1164, which would make providing an abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy a crime, with no consideration for a pregnant person’s circumstances. While another bill that would have prohibited physicians from providing medication abortion care (HB 2811) thankfully failed to pass the Arizona House of Representatives last week, attacks on reproductive freedom continue as Arizona Republicans fail to listen to the majority of Arizonans who support reproductive freedom. Instead, they are taking cues from anti-choice extremists. These bans on abortion are almost exact copies of bills that have been introduced in other states.
The U.S. Supreme Court is preparing to hand down a decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization—a case regarding Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban that directly challenges Roe v. Wade. If Roe fell tomorrow, 28 states, including Arizona, are expected to take action to prohibit abortion outright. The people hurt most by attacks on reproductive freedom are those who already face barriers to accessing abortion care—including women; Black, Indigenous, and other people of color; those working to make ends meet; LGBTQ+ people; immigrants; young people; those living in rural communities; and people with disabilities.
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For over 50 years, NARAL Pro-Choice America has fought to protect and advance reproductive freedom at the federal and state levels—including access to abortion care, birth control, pregnancy and post-partum care, and paid family leave—for every body. NARAL is powered by its more than 2.5 million members from every state and congressional district in the country, representing the 8 in 10 Americans who support legal abortion.