Only 7 percent of millennials support Democratic Party’s position on abortion
Ninety-three percent of millennial-aged Americans do not subscribe to the official Democratic Party platform on abortion, according to a newly released survey by a pro-life student group.
The poll, released Monday by Students for Life of America's Institute for Pro-Life Advancement, found that only 7 percent of millennials surveyed supported taxpayer funding of abortions and abortion without any legal restrictions. This contrasts with the stated position of the Democratic Party on the issue of abortion.
According to the 2016 Democratic Party platform, “every woman should have access to quality reproductive health care services, including safe and legal abortion—regardless of where she lives, how much money she makes, or how she is insured.”
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“We believe that reproductive health is core to women’s, men’s, and young people’s health and wellbeing. We will continue to stand up to Republican efforts to defund Planned Parenthood health centers, which provide critical health services to millions of people,” says the platform.
In addition, 70 percent of surveyed millennials supported limits on abortion, with 42 percent opposing abortion “broadly” while 28 percent supported specific policies like parental notification, limiting abortion later in pregnancy, and halting government funding of abortion.
Other findings included 41 percent of millennials supporting the overturning of Roe v. Wade and equal numbers identifying as “pro-life” and “pro-choice” (39 percent).
The poll was conducted in January by the polling company inc./WomanTrend with a sample space of 400 respondents and a margin of error of 4.9 percent.
Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America, argued that the survey showed that “labels like pro-life, pro-choice, access, health, or women’s rights often camouflage the true realities of the policies that today crisscross the country.”
“Especially as we talk with Millennials, who are often outside the political structure of Washington, D.C., the anti-abortion movement must be clear on what we are advancing and its impact on mothers, the preborn and taxpayers,” said Hawkins.
“And for those elected officials who want to engage in life-affirming legislation, Millennial voters are listening when you compassionately address the specifics of life in law.”
Last year, Refinery29 and CBS news released the findings of a survey of 2,000 millennial-aged women, finding that 38 percent of respondents said they believed abortion should be illegal, 34 percent said it should be legal in "most cases" and only 28 percent said it should be legal in "all cases."
As Michael J. New, an associate scholar at the Charlotte Lozier Institute, put it about the Refinery29 poll, "72 percent think there should be some legal protections for the unborn."
The Refinery29/CBS survey also found that 69 percent of respondents opposed overturning Roe v. Wade and 45 percent worried that abortion access will be more restricted in the near future.
