On behalf of the Susan B. Anthony List, Public Opinion Strategies conducted a national survey of N=800 registered voters August 30 – September 1, 2009. The nationwide survey has a margin of error of ±3.5%.

• Download the Public Opinion Strategies Polling Data and Analysis (.pdf)
• Download the Printable Version of the SBA List Analysis (.pdf)

There is No Payoff in Public Support for Including Government-Backed Abortion Coverage

• The Inclusion of Government Funded Abortions in the President’s Health Care Reform Plan Turns Off Five Times More Voters Than it Gains.More than four-in-ten voters (43%) say they would be less likely to support the president’s proposed health plan if the government pays for abortions. Intensity is strong, with over one-third (36%) of voters saying they would be much less likely to support the plan.
• Forty-six percent (46%) say it would make no difference to their support for the president’s plan. Only 8% say it would make them more likely to support the plan.
• Pressing for government-funded abortion in health care reform offers little political payoff in terms of public support.

Majority of Americans are Opposed to Government Funding for Abortion Services in Health Care Reform

Government-Funded Abortions Not a Winner for Women

• Women voters do not support the inclusion of government- funded abortion in health care reform in higher numbers than men. Put simply, there is no gender gap. Abortion advocates would have many believe that more American women want government funding of abortion on-demand, when the reverse is in fact true. When broken down by gender, 44% of women and 41% of men are less likely to support the president’s health plan if it includes the government paying for abortions.

Government-Funded Abortions Not a Winner for Independents, Democrats

• Levels of opposition among Independents track the national results. Forty-four percent (44%) of Independents are less likely to support the President’s plan if it includes government-funded abortions, while 46% say it makes no difference.

• Abortion funding is not a crucial issue in their support for the health plan for the majority of Democrats. Fifty-nine percent (59%) say it makes no difference to their support of the President’s plan. In fact, twice as many Democrats are less likely to support the president’s plan, if the government pays for abortions. One quarter (25%) of Democrats said they are less likely to support the president’s plan with the inclusion of government-funded abortion, while less than half that number (12%) said they would be more likely to support the plan.

Existing Health Care Reform Legislation Containing Government Abortion Funding on Collision Course with American Public Opinion

• Existing health care reform legislation will allow government-funded abortion, the very policy opposed by the majority of American voters. Without the addition of true pro-life safeguards, the will of the American people will be flouted in health care reform.
• The Hyde Amendment does not apply to health care reform legislation. Our country has a long standing policy of restricting federal abortion funding through the Hyde amendment. Yet, because the Hyde Amendment only applies to programs that have to be funded every year through appropriations bills. Since relevant funding in the proposed health care reform legislation is not subject to annual appropriations, the Hyde amendment will not apply.
• The so-called “compromise” amendment offered by Rep. Lois Capps in the House Energy and Commerce Committee does not address pro-life concerns. The Capps amendment falls far short of ensuring that government money does not flow to abortion clinics to reimburse for abortion on-demand. Rather it allows the public option to directly issue checks from the U.S. Treasury to the abortion industry to fund abortion on-demand for the first time in decades. It also uses an accounting gimmick to create a loophole in the current federal standard of not using public funds to subsidize plans that cover abortion.
• In keeping with the will of an increasingly pro-life America, the Susan B. Anthony List urges opposition to legislation in which abortion is not permanently and explicitly excluded from the scope of any federally mandated, federally subsidized, or federally defined health insurance plans.