{"id":244739,"date":"2021-05-06T13:35:54","date_gmt":"2021-05-06T18:35:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=244739"},"modified":"2021-05-06T12:23:59","modified_gmt":"2021-05-06T17:23:59","slug":"heartbeat-texans-half-ban-abortion-six-weeks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/heartbeat-texans-half-ban-abortion-six-weeks\/","title":{"rendered":"As Heartbeat Act advances, nearly half of Texans say they would ban abortion after six weeks"},"content":{"rendered":"
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As Texas continued to move this week toward banning abortion after a preborn child’s heartbeat is detected, a new poll revealed that nearly half of Texas voters \u2014 and nearly three-quarters of Republicans \u2014 would support an abortion ban after six weeks of pregnancy.<\/span><\/p>\n

The latest University of Texas\/Texas Tribune <\/span>poll<\/span><\/a> surveyed 1200 registered voters between April 16 and April 22 on a number of major issues facing Texas legislature including the COVID-19 pandemic, gun laws, lobbying, police use of force, and abortion.<\/span><\/p>\n

Although the poll revealed that 54% of Texans oppose automatically banning all abortions in Texas if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade<\/em>, about a third would support a ban. Roe v. Wade<\/em> is the landmark 1973 Supreme Court ruling that effectively legalized abortion throughout all nine months of pregnancy in the United States.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Moreover, 49% of voters support making abortions illegal after six weeks except in the case of a medical emergency (read more here<\/a> on why the deliberate killing of a preborn child is never truly medically necessary). That includes the support of 74% of Republicans, while 67% of Democrats oppose the idea, <\/span>the Texas Tribune reports.<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

READ:\u00a0Texas House committee advances multiple pro-life bills in hopes of saving \u2018thousands of lives\u2019<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The poll also surveyed voters on current laws restricting abortion in Texas. According to the results, 33% would make them stricter, 33% would make them less strict, and 22% would leave them as they are.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Finally, giving anyone the right to sue abortion providers they believe have violated state law was supported by 44% of Texas voters polled and opposed by 37%.<\/span><\/p>\n

The poll emerged just as Texas lawmakers gave initial approval on Wednesday of Senate Bill 8, a \u201cheartbeat bill\u201d that would ban abortions after detection of a preborn child\u2019s heartbeat. The heartbeat begins between 16<\/a> and\u00a0<\/span>22 days after fertilization<\/span><\/a> and can be detected by ultrasound as early as six weeks into the pregnancy.<\/span><\/p>\n