{"id":256398,"date":"2021-11-01T13:01:15","date_gmt":"2021-11-01T18:01:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=256398"},"modified":"2021-11-02T13:50:18","modified_gmt":"2021-11-02T18:50:18","slug":"poll-public-support-texas-heartbeat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/poll-public-support-texas-heartbeat\/","title":{"rendered":"Poll shows strong public support for Texas Heartbeat Act, despite media outrage"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A new poll has found that, when informed about details of the law, most adults support the Texas Heartbeat Act. The information is particularly important, as the Supreme Court hears oral arguments regarding the law today.<\/p>\n

The Houston Chronicle<\/a> reported that the poll<\/a>, commissioned by the Hobby School of Public Affairs at the University of Houston and the Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs at Texas Southern University, showed very drastic changes when respondents learned the specifics of the Texas law.<\/p>\n

When respondents were specifically told that the Texas law involves abortion after a preborn child’s heartbeat can be detected, with the only exception being to save the mother’s life, the numbers showed significant support for the law: 55% of respondents said they supported the Texas Heartbeat Act, while 45% opposed it. Most demographics continued to show strong support for the law, including among whites (55%), Latinos (58%), men (59%), women (52%), Baby Boomers (65%), Gen X (55%), Independents (55%), and Republicans (74%). Half of Gen Z respondents supported the Texas Heartbeat Act, at an even 50%.<\/p>\n

Before learning the specifics of the Heartbeat Act, however, 69% of respondents had originally claimed the Texas law was too restrictive, and 46% supported legal abortion in most or all cases immediately after six weeks, with 23% saying it should only be legal in cases of rape, incest, or when the mother’s life is at risk.<\/p>\n

2,067 people were interviewed for the poll in October, with a potential margin of error of plus or minus 2.2.<\/p>\n