The majority of Latino voters in the United States believe that women should be able to access abortion care, according to a poll released Monday, NBC News reports.
The poll was commissioned by the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health (NLIRH) and conducted by PerryUndem Research/Communication. It surveyed more than 1,000 Latino voters. The poll was offered in English and Spanish.
Key findings
According to the poll, 78 percent of respondents said they agreed with the statement that "each woman should have the right to make her own decision on abortion, even if I may disagree with her reasons."
The survey also found that 69 percent of respondents believed women should have health insurance that covers the full range of reproductive health care, including abortion care. In addition, the poll found that the "vast majority" of respondents said they would support a friend or family member who was seeking abortion care. In addition, while most respondents who were polled in Spanish said they could not picture a scenario in which abortion was the right choice for them, the majority of respondents polled in English said they could imagine such circumstances.
Further, 67 percent of respondents said they do not want Roe v. Wade to be overturned, and 69 percent said abortion should remain legal regardless of opposition from religious leaders.
According to the poll, the majority of Latinos, particularly those who were polled in Spanish, did not know about recently enacted state laws restricting access to abortion. However, after learning about them, 65 percent of respondents did not support the restrictions. Moreover, the percentage of respondents who said they would monitor presidential candidates' views on abortion rights during the upcoming election increased from 69 to 82 percent after respondents learned about state laws currently being passed to restrict access to abortion care.
Comments
Jessica González-Rojas, executive director at NLIRH, said, "I think what this poll shows is what we've known all along, which is that Latinos are actually overwhelmingly supportive of women decision making and don't want to see politicians interfering with a woman's ability to get abortion care."
She added, "As we head into a major election year and the Supreme Court hearing" on Texas' omnibus antiabortion-rights law (HB 2), "the voices of the Latino electorate need to be heard."
González-Rojas explained that HB 2, if enacted, would leave open only "about 10 [abortion] clinics in the entire state of Texas." According to González-Rojas, "The reason why that's important for Latinas is because Latinas make up a majority of women of reproductive age in Texas ... so this would disproportionately impact us" (Nevarez, NBC News, 2/29).
