Alignment of state-level policies and public attitudes towards abortion legality and government restrictions on abortion in the United States

Abstract

Background Contextual factors can shape public opinion towards abortion. We investigated the association between the state-level abortion legislative climate and individual attitudes towards abortion legality and government restrictions of abortion access in the United States.

Methods Data come from the 2020 Cooperative Congressional Election Study (n = 61,000). Using multivariable logistic regression with generalized estimating equations, we explored whether state-level abortion policy climates (based on the Guttmacher Institute’s 2020 rating of state abortion policies) were associated with individual attitudes (1) towards abortion legality, and (2) towards government restriction of abortion access, controlling for individual socio-demographic factors.

Results Eighty-eight percent of participants supported the legality of abortion in some or all circumstances. Conversely, 30% of the sample opposed all federal government restrictions on abortion. More than 60% of the sample lived in highly abortion-restrictive states. Participants living in states with a more supportive abortion legislative climate were more likely to support the legality of abortion in some or all circumstances (AOR = 1.07, (95% CI 1.05, 1.09). Participants in states with more supportive abortion policies were more likely to oppose federal governmental restrictions (AOR = 1.03, 95% CI 1.02, 1.04). Low religiosity, higher educational attainment, and politically liberal views were associated with increased support for abortion legality and increased opposition to government restrictions on abortion.

Conclusions State-level abortion policy contexts were positively associated with public attitudes towards abortion. While attitudes towards abortion legality are favorable across the country; there is also strong support at least one type of government restriction on abortion access. Results highlight a disconnect between multifaceted public attitudes towards abortion and polarized state contexts, suggesting that policymaking on abortion represents a higher level of polarization than exists at the individual level. Policymakers and legislators should more carefully consider the desires of the public when designing abortion legislation.