Women’s Views of Abortion Access and Policies in the Dobbs Era: Insights From the KFF Health Tracking Poll

Nearly two years after the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization Supreme Court ruling overturned Roe v. Wade, eliminating federal constitutional protections for abortion, abortion is banned in 14 states and limited by gestational limits in 11 others. The latest polling from KFF finds that women in states where abortion is banned are more likely to report personal connections to people who have had difficulty accessing abortion services since the overturn of Roe. Recent research has documented that many women who live in states where abortion is banned have traveled to other states to secure abortions. This can be costly and require them to take time off from work, find childcare, and in some cases make multiple visits to get abortion services. There have also been reports of women who have been denied abortions even though they meet the state standards for exemptions. Previous reporting from the KFF Health Tracking Poll examines women’s views on abortion policy including by partisanship, which is one of the strongest predictors of these views. This analysis examines women’s views by geography—specifically whether they live in a state where abortion is currently banned, limited, or legal.

One in Seven Women in States With Abortion Bans Say They or Someone They Know Has Had Difficulty Accessing an Abortion

Eight percent of women overall, rising to one in seven (14%) women of reproductive age (ages 18 to 49), say they or someone they know has had difficulty accessing an abortion due to restrictions in their state since Roe was overturned. Women living in states where abortion is banned are twice as likely to report knowing someone who had difficulty accessing an abortion compared to women living in states where abortion is limited or legal. One in seven (14%) women living in states where abortion is banned say they or someone they know has struggled to access an abortion due to restrictions on abortions in their state, including one in five (21%) women ages 18-49 living in these states. Fewer women in states where abortion is limited by gestational periods (6%) or in states where abortion is legal past 22 weeks of gestation (7%) say they or someone they know has experienced such difficulties.

A Majority of Women Living in States Where Abortion Is Banned Want Abortion To Be Legal, Support Laws Protecting Abortion Access

While there are some small differences in levels of support for abortion restrictions between women living in states where abortion is banned and those living in other states, majorities of women across states—including in those with abortion bans—think abortion should be legal in all or most cases and support a range of policies that protect abortion access.

Regardless of whether abortion in their state is banned, restricted, or legal, a majority of women think abortion should be legal in all or most cases, including two-thirds (67%) of women in states where abortion is banned and seven in ten (71%) in states where abortion is limited by gestational limits. A larger majority (81%) of women in states where abortion is currently legal say abortion should be legal in all or most cases. One in four women living in states where abortion is banned think abortion should be “illegal in most cases,” as do one in five women living in states where abortion is limited by gestational limits (19%) and women living in states where abortion is legal (17%). A small share of women, regardless of their state’s laws, say abortion should be “illegal in all cases” (8% of women living in states where abortion is banned, 10% in states with limited abortion access, 2% in states with legal abortions available).

A majority of women, regardless of the abortion laws in their state, support laws such as protecting abortion access for women experiencing pregnancy-related emergencies such as miscarriages, protecting the right to travel to get an abortion, and guaranteeing a federal right to abortion.

Regardless of the type of abortion restrictions in their state, fewer than half of women support laws that restrict or criminalize abortion access, though there are some variations in the level of support for different policies. Among women living in states where abortion is banned, just under half support establishing a federal 16-week ban on abortions (45%), and four in ten support prohibiting clinics that receive federal funding from providing abortions or referring patients to abortion providers (40%) or making it a crime for health care providers to mail abortion pills to state with abortion bans (38%). One-third support a national ban on mifepristone, the abortion medication (33%).

Fewer women in states where abortion is legal support establishing a federal ban on abortion at 16 weeks (33% vs. 45% among women in states where abortion is banned), likely reflecting underlying political differences between women who live in these types of states. In fact, four in ten (38%) women living in states where abortion is banned or limited either are or lean Republican, compared to about three in ten (28%) women living in states where abortion is legal. The largest predictor of support for these policies is political partisanship, even among women. For a further exploration on these partisanship differences, see previous reporting on this survey.

The issue of abortion access is likely to emerge in multiple forms in the November 2024 election. A number of states are moving forward with ballot initiatives to protect abortion rights at the state level. In addition, KFF polling shows that one in eight voters (12%) say abortion is the most important issue to their vote, largely comprised of adults who say abortion should be legal and support protections for abortion access. Notably, one in five women of reproductive age in states where abortion is banned say that either they or someone they personally know has had difficulty obtaining an abortion. Support for abortion protections including a federal guarantee to the right to abortion is robust among women, regardless of where they reside. While substantial minorities of women in states with abortion bans support some restrictions on abortion access, two-thirds of women living in these states think abortion should be legal in all or most cases, suggesting a disconnect between what women in these states support and the policies their state lawmakers have enacted.