(CV) Seventy percent of likely voters want an in-person doctor’s visit to be a prerequisite for receiving a prescription for abortion drugs, and large majorities of likely voters also approve of other pro-life policies that would reinstate safeguards on abortions, a recent survey found.
The survey, conducted nationally among 1,600 likely voters in August by McLaughlin & Associates, found that 57% of liberal voters also approve of women being required to obtain abortion drugs through an in-person doctor’s visit. Some regulations previously imposed on abortion drugs, including doctor’s visits, were rolled back during the Biden administration.
The majority of voters (57%) in the survey identified as pro-abortion. However, most respondents said they have “significant doubts” about the safety of abortion drugs; only 16% consider them “very safe” and nearly three in five call them “unsafe” or report they are unsure.
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Voters generally considered abortion and abortion drugs to be harmful in several other ways. Nearly nine in 10 said the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) should “accurately report the real-world impact of the chemical abortion drugs,” including side effects such as heavy bleeding, sepsis, infections, depression and mental health issues, and others. Eight in 10 said that people should not be able to order abortion drugs online and administer them to a woman without her knowledge or consent. Seven in 10 said they believe doctors should be required to screen for and report coercion or abuse.
More than seven in 10 said that requiring an in-person doctor’s visit for an abortion pill prescription allows a woman to make a fully informed decision about going through with the abortion. A similar number said that manufacturers have pressured the FDA to lower standards so they can sell more abortion drugs, prioritizing profits over women’s health and safety. Nearly seven in 10 said that the FDA ought to reinstate pre-Biden era safeguards on abortion drugs.
Tweet This: Nearly seven in 10 likely voters said that the FDA ought to reinstate pre-Biden era safeguards on abortion drugs.
Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America highlighted the survey in a press release, and the organization’s president, Marjorie Dannensfelser, called the lack of regulation on abortion drugs “an issue that overwhelmingly unites voters of all stripes.”
She later added, “Americans’ concerns are more than valid. Even a strong majority of liberal voters agree in-person doctor visits and screening for coercion and abuse are simply common sense, yet the Biden FDA recklessly tossed them aside to push a pro-abortion agenda.”
Dannensfelser pointed out that the Trump administration “promised a fresh review of the evidence on the risks of abortion drugs” and urged the government to begin by reinstating safeguards on the drugs.
Editor's note: This article was published by Catholic Vote and is reprinted with permission.
