Dem
51
GOP
49
Donald Trump is trying to finesse the abortion issue by saying it should be up to the states. The idea here is to pretend that it shouldn't be a federal issue, but to do so with a wink and a nod, to let anti-abortion activists understand that if there is a Republican trifecta and Congress passes a bill to ban abortion in the whole country, he would sign it. He just doesn't want to say this out loud because it is so unpopular.
But how do voters feel about leaving it to the states? A new Kaiser Family Foundation poll shows that 74% of women oppose leaving decisions about abortion up to the states. In other words, 74% oppose Trump's stated policy on the subject (not to mention his actual, much harsher policy). Here is the breakdown by party:
The poll asked many questions relating to abortion, and few of the results are favorable to the Republicans. Among all women 18 to 49, 75% think abortion should be legal in most or all cases. Among Democratic women 18 to 49, it is 92%; among independents it is 75% and among Republicans it is 47%. Among women 18 to 49, 53% are worried that they could not get an abortion if they needed one. Again in that group, 64% are worried about the safety of a future pregnancy and 63% oppose a national abortion ban at 15 weeks. A quarter of women wouldn't know where to get information about an abortion if they needed one. It goes on and on like that.
Trump's trying to finesse the issue probably won't work. Republican parties in some states are putting abortion bans into their state platforms. Others are defining abortion as homicide. If Kamala Harris pushes hard on this issue, she could ride it to the White House. (V)