WASHINGTON — About three-quarters of voters in the swing states of Arizona and Nevada favor upcoming referendums on abortion, a new poll found.
A Fox News poll released Aug. 28 found that 73 percent of Arizona voters said they favor a ballot measure that would enact abortion protections “up until fetal viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health” in their state constitution. Just 23 percent said they were opposed. In Nevada, 75 percent of voters said they favor a similar measure to establishing the right to an abortion in their state constitution, while 21 percent said they opposed that effort.
Since the Supreme Court issued its ruling in Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization in June 2022 that reversed its previous abortion precedent, voters in Ohio, California, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, Vermont and Kansas either rejected new limitations on abortion or expanded legal protections for it as the result of ballot measures.
Similar efforts will be on the ballot again in several key swing states in November, including in Nevada and Arizona, where closely-watched races for the U.S. Senate are also taking place.
The Arizona Catholic Conference has opposed the abortion ballot measure in that state, calling it “far-reaching and very extreme.” The Nevada Catholic Conference has also stated its opposition to the effort, arguing voters should reject “the efforts seeking to permanently place the right to abortion in our state constitution,” noting elective abortion is already legal in the state until 24 weeks and should not be further expanded.
The Catholic Church teaches that all human life is sacred from conception to natural death, and as such, opposes direct abortion. After the Dobbs decision, Church officials in the United States have reiterated the Church’s concern for both mother and child and called to strengthen available support for those living in poverty or other causes that can push women toward having an abortion.
Abortion rates, which began steadily rising in 2017 after a nearly three-decade decline, have further increased in the aftermath of the Dobbs decision. According to the Guttmacher Institute, which tracks abortion data, abortions in 2023 were up 11 percent over 2020. The 2023 data represents the first full year after Dobbs created a “fractured abortion landscape” as states enact restrictions on, or protections of, abortion access.
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