Nearly 8 in 10 AAPI adults in the US say abortion should be legal, poll finds

(Nathan Howard/Associated Press)

Nearly 8 in 10 AAPI adults in the US say abortion should be legal, poll finds

Abortion

GRAHAM LEE BREWER and AMELIA THOMSON-DEVEAUX

March 21, 2024

With abortion rights set to be one of the top issues in the 2024 election, a new poll shows that Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders in the United States strongly support legal abortion, even in situations where the pregnant person wants an abortion. for any reason.

The poll from AAPI Data and the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that nearly 8 in 10 Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases. They also support the federal government’s actions to protect abortion rights: Three-quarters of AAPI adults say Congress should pass a law guaranteeing access to legal abortions nationwide.

By comparison, an AP-NORC poll last June found that 64% of U.S. adults believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases, and overall, six in 10 U.S. adults say Congress should should pass legislation guaranteeing access.

AAPI adults are more likely than Americans overall to identify as Democrats, which may partly explain why their levels of support for legal abortion are higher than among the general population. But even among Democrats, AAPI adults are more supportive of legal abortion later in pregnancy. AAPI Democrats in particular will support legal abortion without any restrictions. More than half of this group say abortion should be legal in all cases, compared to 40% of Democrats overall.

AAPI Republicans are also more likely than Republicans overall to support a bill guaranteeing access to legal abortion nationwide. More than half (57%) of AAPI Republicans believe abortion should be legal in some cases, compared to 38% of Republicans overall. About half (51%) of AAPI Republicans also believe Congress should pass a law guaranteeing access to legal abortion nationwide, while only 32% of Republicans overall want that to happen.

Although AAPI voters are a fast-growing demographic group with a particularly large presence in states like California, Texas, and New York, their attitudes often cannot be analyzed in other surveys due to small sample sizes, among other reasons. This research is part of an ongoing project focusing on the views of AAPI Americans.

High turnout in areas with large AAPI communities could help Democrats in competitive House districts, and a broader conversation about whether nonwhite voters are shifting to the right could lead to AAPI voters becoming more likely to are courted. The study’s findings suggest that abortion could be a major issue for Democratic candidates seeking to reach AAPI communities, and a challenge for Republicans.

It saddens me how politics got involved, and they shouldn’t have, said Debra Nanez, a 72-year-old retired nurse in Tucson and a voter not affiliated with any political party. Nanez identifies as Asian, Native American and Hispanic. It’s a woman’s body. How can you tell us what we can do with our bodies, what we can and cannot keep? It is ridiculous.

Although an October 2022 AP-NORC poll found that more than four in 10 Americans are generally confident that Democrats will do a better job on the abortion issue, while only two in 10 are more confident in Republicans, the poll released Thursday shows the partisan trust gap is mirrored for AAPI adults. Fifty-five percent of AAPI adults trust Democrats on abortion policy, while only 12% trust Republicans.

According to the study, more than half of AAPI adults were born outside the US. For many of these immigrants and their first-generation American children, abortion is not only seen as health care, but can also be seen as a right not afforded to them in their countries of origin, says Varun Nikore, executive director of AAPI Victory Alliance. , a progressive political advocacy organization.

I think it has to do with a kind of attitude at home that is pervasive, but also with a strong feeling that we had rights and had access to healthcare, and now we don’t want to lose something that we have. had. And we may also have come to this country to have better access to healthcare than before, Nikore said.

Nearly six in ten AAPI adults do not want Congress to pass a law allowing states to create their own laws allowing or restricting abortion, and only 14% support passing a law restricting access to abortions banned nationwide.

Joie Meyer, 24, is a health care consultant in Florida, where abortions are banned after 15 weeks of pregnancy. She said that considering other nearby states such as Alabama and Georgia have even more restrictive abortion laws, she would have to travel far to receive the procedure.

“I’m 24 and maybe some people my age are having children, but if I were put in that position of getting pregnant, I don’t think I would feel ready,” she said. So that would be something I would have to think about.

Meyer, who was born in China and has lived in the US since childhood, has made plans with a friend in California in case she does need an abortion. Flying across the country may take more time than driving to the nearest state where abortion is available, but she said she wants to know she will be with someone who can care for her during recovery.

Even if there is a closer condition, would I want to do that alone and really have to navigate that physical and emotional pain alone? Not really, Meijer said.

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The poll of 1,172 U.S. adults who are Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander was conducted Feb. 5-14 using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based Amplify AAPI Panel, designed to be representative of the Asian -American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islands. Islander population. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.9 percentage points for all respondents.

Brewer and Thomson-DeVeaux write for the Associated Press.

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