Poll: Americans Split on Whether Abortion Is a Federal or State Issue

Americans are evenly split on whether the abortion issue should be handled on a state or federal level, a poll found. 

Forty-three percent of U.S. adults say abortion laws should be decided nationally, while 45 percent say the issue should be left to individual states, according to an Economist/YouGov poll released in April. Thirteen percent of respondents are unsure how abortion should be handled.

Democrats are much more likely to prefer that abortion be addressed nationally, compared to independents and Republicans. The survey found that 65 percent of Democrats want abortion decided nationally, while 70 percent of Republicans want the issue left up to individual states. Independents are split 38 percent to 40 percent.

Those results come after former President Donald Trump announced his abortion position after months of speculation and the entertainment of a 15-week federal limit. Trump ultimately said he believes abortion laws should be left to individual states and called for exceptions for rape and incest.

At the same time, President Joe Biden is campaigning on restoring Roe v. Wade, a 1973 Supreme Court decision — overturned by the 2022 Dobbs decision — that invented a constitutional right to abortion for 50 years.

For years, Democrats have tried and failed to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act, which they claim would restore Roe. Critics of the bill say it is much more extreme than Roe and could lead to abortions throughout pregnancy across the United States. Biden, a self-professed Catholic, has said he would sign the bill into law if it reaches his desk.

RELATED: Decoding Democrat Joe Biden’s 2024 Abortion Playbook

The survey found that 71 percent of Americans who intend to vote for Biden want abortion law decided nationally, while 71 percent of voters who plan to support Trump want abortion law left to states.

By sex, men and women are almost evenly split in thinking abortion should be decided nationally, 42 percent to 43 percent. Men are slightly more likely to say abortion should be left to states than women, 48 percent to 42 percent.

By age group, younger Americans — ages 18 to 29 — are more likely to favor handling the issue on the federal level, at 51 percent. Americans ages 30-44 similarly favor federal abortion legislation, at 51 percent. In contrast, 51 percent of Americans ages 45 to 64 favor a state-by-state approach, as do 55 percent of Americans ages 65 and up.

The poll was conducted with 1,574 U.S. adult citizens from April 14-16, 2024. The margin of error is ± 3.2 percentage points.