Gen Z cares more about women's access to abortion than saving babies, poll claims
Generation Z voters are more concerned about “upholding women’s reproductive rights” than reducing the number of abortions, a recent survey has found. But a leading youth pro-life organization argues that the poll is not an accurate reflection of younger voters’ views on abortion.
According to a Walton Family Foundation/Murmuration survey, 76% of Gen Z voters said access to abortion is “very important” or at least “somewhat important,” with 60% saying the former and 16% stating the latter.
Ten percent of Gen Z voters said the issue was “not very important” or “not at all important,” with 4% saying the former and 5% believing the latter. Another 14% said that they felt the issue was “neither important or unimportant.”
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In comparison, 69% of adults aged 26 and older said that “upholding women’s reproductive rights” is “very important” or at least “somewhat important.” Forty-nine percent of participants said the issue is “very important,” 20% said it was “somewhat important,” and 15% said it was “neither important or unimportant.”
Another 6% said abortion access is “not very important,” while 10% said that it was “not at all important.”
The survey also found that 46% of adult voters aged 26 and older are concerned about reducing the number of abortions compared to 33% of Gen Z voters.
Twenty-one percent of Gen Z voters said that reducing abortions is “very important,” 13% said that it’s “somewhat important,” and 23% said that reducing abortions is “neither important or unimportant.” Another 14% said that reducing abortions is “not very important” and 29% said it’s “not at all important.”
For voters 26 and older, 28% said reducing abortions is “very important,” 18% said it's “somewhat important,” and 23% said reducing abortions is “neither important or unimportant.” Twelve percent said that reducing abortions is not “very important,” and 20% said that it’s “not important at all.”
The study authors polled 3,227 15- to 25-year-olds and 1,036 adults aged 26 or older. The survey for Gen Z voters had a 1.7% margin of error, while the survey of adults aged 26 years or older had a 3% margin of error.
Kristi Hamrick, vice president of media and policy for Students for Life Action, cited a January 2023 YouGov/Vinea Research poll conducted in collaboration with the pro-life organization, which the pro-life leader claims shows younger voters’ “actual views on abortion.”
The pro-life leader said the problem with most polls is that those conducting the survey often fail to ask follow-up questions, define terms or explain policy.
“But when you dive deeper, an honest assessment finds that this generation has real concerns about how abortion is handled in America,” Hamrick, who also serves as the chief media and policy strategist for Students for Life of America, told The Christian Post in an emailed statement.
“Far from being lockstep for abortion, as the media and frankly the Democrats want us to believe, this generation has concerns about abortion extremism, and almost seven in 10 supports limits on abortion,” she added.
Researchers interviewed 1,216 registered voters between the ages of 18 and 41, matching the sample down to 1,000 to produce the final data set. Participants were matched to a sampling frame based on gender, age, race, and education. The poll’s margin of error was +/- 3.37.
According to the 2023 YouGov/Vinea Research poll, 65% of Gen X and millennial voters said they want abortion banned or limited. The number of respondents who said abortion should never be legal (23%) was nearly the same as the amount who said it should always be legal (24%), with the study noting that this means half of the participants are in the middle on the issue.
The poll also found that the number of young people who believe abortion should not be legal is 23% compared to 9% in 2022.
Sixty-seven percent of surveyed voters said that laws should limit abortion, with 21% saying it should limit all abortions and 46% saying only in some circumstances. Only three in 10 of those surveyed did not support laws limiting abortion.
Regarding how firm they were in their stance on abortion, 44% of respondents said their minds could not be changed. Others said they were open-minded (4%), while 41% said they would need more information before they changed their opinion.
“But even more significant is their objection to Biden's no-test, online distribution of chemical abortion pills,” Hamrick said. “This dangerous scheme exposes women to injury, infertility, death and abusers. And by margins of more than nine in 10, this generation supports the health and safety standards Biden and his team stripped away from women.”
As CP previously reported, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration finalized a rule last month to make abortion pills available at pharmacy chains and mail-order companies nationwide.
The American College of Pediatricians released a 24-page report condemning the rule change, with Dr. Jane Anderson, co-author of the review, warning that “Women are deeply harmed by chemical abortion.”
“This disregard for human life and safety betrays the purpose of the FDA — safety — and reveals what chemical abortion truly serves: politics and profit, not people. … Chemical abortion pills are intended to result in the death of a human being. This is antithetical to the practice of medicine. Instead of protecting a mother and her baby, chemical abortion puts a woman’s life at risk and makes her the facilitator of her child’s death.”
According to a 2022 poll conducted on behalf of Students for Life of America, 52% of young adults supported banning abortion after an unborn baby's heartbeat becomes detectable, compared to 48% who opposed.
The survey assessed 834 young adults between the ages of 18 and 34 from Jan. 5-11 about their views on abortion and the Roe decision.
Sixty percent of respondents expressed some level of support for Roe, with 21% saying that they "very strongly" supported the decision, 26% reporting that they "strongly" supported the decision, and 12% telling the pollster that they did “not strongly support” it.
Samantha Kamman is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: samantha.kamman@christianpost.com. Follower her on Twitter: @Samantha_Kamman
