Home > Press Releases > New 50-State Survey Data: More Than Six in Ten Americans Continue Supporting Abortion Legality
New 50-State Survey Data: More Than Six in Ten Americans Continue Supporting Abortion Legality
04.01.2025
Topics: Abortion & Reproductive Health
Tags: American Values Atlas

Percentage of Republicans who say abortion should be illegal in all cases down almost 10 percentage points from 22% in 2010 to 13% in 2024

WASHINGTON (April 1, 2025)— Americans’ support for abortion legality remains strong, according to a new survey report published today by PRRI (Public Religion Research Institute). Data from the 2024 PRRI American Values Atlas, which surveyed more than 22,000 adults across all 50 states and the District of Columbia throughout 2024, finds that 63% of Americans say abortion should be legal in most or all cases compared with 34% of Americans who believe abortion should be illegal in most or all cases. The percentage of Americans who say abortion should be illegal in all cases has dropped by half since 2010, from 15% to 8% in 2024.

Most Democrats have consistently favored abortion rights, but support has increased in recent years, rising from 71% in 2010 to 85% in 2024. In contrast, 39% of Republicans support abortion legality in 2024, a 4-percentage-point increase in support since 2010 (35%). Independents (69%) are more likely than all Americans (63%) to support abortion legality, with their support increasing notably since 2022, when the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision overturned Roe v. Wade (1973), effectively eliminating the federal right to abortion.

“Our new 50-state survey report shows that the vast majority of Americans continue to support legal access to abortion in all or most cases,” said Melissa Deckman, Ph.D., CEO of PRRI. “Moreover, support for banning abortion in all cases continues to drop, despite efforts by some states to effectively restrict the procedure in the wake of the Dobbs decision.”

Additionally, most Americans (68%) oppose laws that make it illegal to use or receive through the mail FDA-approved drugs for medical abortion, including a majority of Americans across party affiliation (81% of Democrats, 72% of independents, and 53% of Republicans).

A majority of residents in most states say that abortion should be legal; no more than 17% of residents in any state support a ban on abortion.

A majority of residents in most states and the District of Columbia say that abortion should be legal in all or most cases. Massachusetts (83%), Vermont (80%), Rhode Island (77%), and New Hampshire (75%) are the states with the highest support. In contrast, there are seven states—Arkansas (49%), Idaho (48%), Tennessee (47%), Oklahoma (46%), Utah (44%), Louisiana (42%), and West Virginia (41%)—where fewer than half of residents support abortion legality.

Around one in ten residents in most states say abortion should be illegal in all cases. Nebraska has the highest percentage holding this view (17%), followed by 14% of residents in South Dakota and Mississippi, 13% of residents in Louisiana, and 12% of residents in North Dakota, South Carolina, and West Virginia.

Most religious Americans support abortion legality; however, there is a distinct connection between frequent religious practice and support for Christian nationalism and opposition to abortion legality in all 50 states.

 Majorities across most religious traditions say that abortion should be legal in all or most cases, including Buddhists (84%), Unitarian Universalists (83%), other non-Christians (83%), religiously unaffiliated Americans (83%), Jewish Americans (79%), Hindus (72%), Black Protestants (71%, up from 56% in 2010), white mainline/non-evangelical Protestants (69%), Muslims (66%), white Catholics (62%) and Hispanic Catholics (59%). In contrast, Hispanic Protestants (44%), Latter-day Saints (29%), white evangelical Protestants (28%), and Jehovah’s Witnesses (22%) do not hold majority support for the legality of abortion.

At the state level, states in which residents more frequently practice religion have higher levels of opposition to abortion legality. In all 50 states, support for Christian nationalism is also negatively correlated with support for abortion legality.

There is a slight gender gap in support for abortion legality, and older Americans have become increasingly supportive.

 Two-thirds of women (66%) and around six in ten men (61%) say abortion should be legal in all or most cases. There is a slight gender gap in support for abortion legality between Democratic women (87%) and Democratic men (84%), between Republican women (40%) and Republican men (37%), and between independent women (71%) and independent men (67%).

While the majority of Americans under the age of 65 have consistently supported abortion rights, Americans ages 65 and older have gradually increased their support, from 47% in 2010 to 63% in 2024. In 2024, 87% of Democratic young women and 82% of Democratic young men say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, compared with 36% of young Republican women and 31% of young Republican men. These divides between partisans by age and gender remain consistent across other age groups.

Other Notable Findings:

  • Christian nationalism Rejecters (92%) are more likely than Skeptics (66%), Sympathizers (41%), and Adherents (26%) to support the legality of abortion.
  • Approximately 73% of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and 70% of Black Americans believe abortion should be legal in most or all cases, as do 64% of multiracial Americans, 63% of white Americans, and 59% of Hispanic Americans. Support for abortion legality has grown significantly among both Black (54%) and white (59%) Americans since 2010.
  • Americans living in states with more restrictive abortion laws are more likely to oppose abortion; specifically, opposition to abortion legality in all or most cases is highest in states with complete bans (44%) and very restrictive laws (38%) and declines in somewhat restrictive (30%) and least restrictive (32%) states.
  • Except for Jehovah’s Witnesses (40%), at least half of all religious groups oppose laws that make it illegal to access abortion pills by mail, including white evangelical Protestants (50%), Hispanic Protestants (51%), and Latter-day Saints (53%).
  • Residents of Arizona, Florida, Oklahoma, and Texas, where state policies ban providers from mailing abortion pills to patients, are less likely than those who live elsewhere to oppose laws that make it illegal to access abortion pills by mail (63% vs. 70%).

 

Methodology

The survey was designed and conducted by PRRI. The survey was made possible through the generous support of Michelle Mercer and Bruce Golden. The survey was carried out among a random representative sample of 22,260 adults (age 18 and up) living in all 50 states and the District of Columbia in the United States. Among those, 20,642 are part of Ipsos’s KnowledgePanel and an additional 1,618 were recruited by Ipsos using opt-in survey panels to increase the sample sizes in smaller states. Interviews were conducted online between March 13 and December 2, 2024. The margin of error for the national survey is +/- 0.84 percentage points at the 95% level of confidence, including the design effect for the survey of 1.62. In addition to sampling error, surveys may also be subject to error or bias due to question wording, context, and order effects.

 

About PRRI

PRRI is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to conducting independent research at the intersection of religion, culture, and public policy.

 

 

#          #          #