Branding Reproductive Freedom to Build a Broad Coalition
Media coverage often highlights the intense polarization around the topic of abortion.
Our research shows that despite a wide array of feelings about the issue, a strong majority of Americans oppose government bans and support reproductive freedom.
Research Goals
On behalf of a client, Avalanche conducted a deep qualitative listening survey with 546 Americans. Our goal was to understand how voters relate to the concept of abortion and specifically to the regulation of abortion.
Methodology
An Avalanche Listening Survey combines open and closed-ended questions. Open-ended questions provide rich data sets that allow us to analyze beliefs, values, and emotions related to an issue. Closed-ended questions provide clarity and comparability with existing research. We work with data collection partners to gather targeted representative samples of respondents.
Key insights
43%
of voters support a woman’s right to abortion and believe it should be legal and available
26%
of voters believe having an abortion is wrong and that it should be illegal
29%
of voters are personally against abortion, but do not believe the government should prevent a woman from making that decision
72%
of Americans believe that the priority must be to protect individual freedom
Political discourse in America around abortion largely ignores a critical segment of 29% of the electorate.
We call them the “Freedom First” segment, and they:
Experience a spectrum of emotions about access to abortion
Feel anger, frustration, disgust, and fear about the regulation of abortion
Are uncomfortable with the idea of accessing abortion themselves, but believe that abortion is a personal decision
See restrictive regulation of abortion as an attack on personal freedom and as unwanted government control
Are equally likely to be liberal or conservative, but are unlikely to be strongly either
Unequivocally believe that women’s personal freedom must be protected
Referenced personal decision-making more than any other segment
Americans have strong feelings against regulating abortion.
Respondents report a spectrum of feelings about access to abortion itself, notably:
Frustration & hope among those who are personally comfortable and support access
Disgust, sadness, & anger among those who are personally uncomfortable and support bans
Sadness, indifference, & frustration among those who are personally uncomfortable with abortion, but support individual freedom and legal access
When it comes to the regulation of abortion, the Freedom First segment sets personal discomfort aside. They shift from sadness and indifference about abortion itself to frustration, anger, and disgust about the government restricting individual freedom.
When asked about regulation, the Freedom First segment shifts toward strong support of access in the following ways:
The Freedom First segment believes that women’s personal freedom must be protected.
Respondents were asked to explain why they felt that way about the regulation of abortion, revealing these top five themes.
The Freedom First segment perceives restrictive regulation of access to abortion as untoward government control that limits the personal freedom of women. For this segment, this isn’t a question of liking or not liking abortion. It isn’t a question of deciding to ever have an abortion. This is about protecting personal freedom from government control.
American voters believe that access to abortion must be a personal decision made by the pregnant woman.
We asked respondents who should decide who gets access to abortion directly. Voters strongly believe that the decision to access or to not access abortion must be made by the pregnant person. Text analysis was conducted to identify these top themes, presented by position on the issue.
A strong majority of Americans voters are clear and articulate about their support for women’s reproductive freedom. When asked in an open-ended format to identify who should decide who gets access to abortion:
95%
of those who support unrestricted access cite the woman or patient, with 19% also referencing support of a doctor or partner
77%
of the Freedom First segment cite the woman or patient, with 20% also referencing support of a doctor or partner
19%
of even those who support bans explicitly respond that they believe it is the role of government to decide who has access to an abortion