Poll: 75 Percent of New Yorkers Would Ban Abortion After 20 Weeks

A new Marist poll released this week found an overwhelming majority of New York state residents oppose abortion later in pregnancy.

According to the survey, sponsored by the Knights of Columbus, 75 percent of New Yorkers oppose abortion after the fifth month of pregnancy, including 69 percent of Democrats, 73 percent of independents, and 89 percent of Republicans.

While most New Yorkers (62 percent) identify as pro-choice as opposed to pro-life (34 percent), the poll found a majority of New Yorkers would actually limit abortion to — at most — the first three months of pregnancy.

“New Yorkers simply do not support laws that allow late-term abortions,” said Carl Anderson, CEO of the Knights of Columbus. “It is now clear that these radical policies are being pursued despite opposition by the majority of New Yorkers, and by a majority of those who identify as Democrats, Republicans and independents.”

According to the poll, 63 percent of New Yorkers also say abortion should be “generally illegal” in the last trimester of pregnancy, while 32 percent say it should be “generally legal.” This outcome includes 53 percent of New York Democrats, 65 percent of independents, and 84 percent of Republicans.

Nationally, Americans say third trimester abortion should be “generally illegal” by a margin of 71 to 25 percent.

The poll found that, when given options to describe their position on abortion, 66 percent of New Yorkers said they would limit abortion to — at most — the first trimester of pregnancy. Only 21 percent would allow the procedure into the third trimester, including 54 percent of Democrats, 65 percent of independents, and 88 percent of Republicans.

National results have shown eight in ten Americans would limit abortion to — at most — the first trimester of pregnancy.

The poll is released in the wake of a new bill signed into law by New York Democrat Gov. Andrew Cuomo that allows abortion at any time during pregnancy and declares abortion to be a fundamental right.

In February, a Siena College poll found Cuomo’s approval rating plummeted by eight percentage points in the month following the signing of the abortion bill into law — from 51 to 43 percent.

According to the poll, the percentage of those who view Cuomo unfavorably climbed from 43 to 50 percent during that period, leaving the governor with his popularity at its lowest point since 2011, when he took office.

In January, Cuomo ordered authorities to light up the World Trade Center in pink to celebrate his new abortion law.

In an attempt to defend himself against sharp criticism for signing the radical abortion legislation into law, Cuomo wrote in a New York Times op-ed that he is a “former altar boy” and that his “Roman Catholic values are [his] personal values.”

“Now, for the first time ever, half of New Yorkers view Andrew Cuomo unfavorably. It’s his lowest favorability rating ever and his lowest-ever job performance as governor,” said Siena College poll spokesman Steven Greenberg. “And it is a dramatic drop in both ratings from last month.”

In February, the Marist poll and the Knights of Columbus released a national survey showing that Americans opposed abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy, 71 to 18 percent.

That same poll found a “sudden and dramatic” 17-point shift toward the pro-life position since the recent legislation in New York and also in Virginia.

Breitbart News reported:

The poll finds a double-digit shift, with Americans now as likely to identify as pro-life (47 percent) as pro-choice (47 percent) since a similar Marist poll conducted in January. In addition, pro-life Democrats alone have shifted from 20 to 34 percent, an outcome that shows more than one-third of Democrats now identify as pro-life.

The current poll of 981 randomly selected adult residents of New York state was conducted February 25 through March 4, 2019. Participants were contacted on landline or mobile numbers and interviewed in English by telephone using live interviewers. Results are statistically significant within plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.