Texans split over state's law banning most abortions, new poll finds

What does Roe v. Wade overturning mean for Texans?

Texas is among more than a dozen states to recently pass a "trigger law" meaning the Supreme Court’s decision to reverse Roe v. Wade immediately triggers a ban and abortion will be illegal in Texas in 30 days. (Note: This report is from June 24.)

HOUSTON - A new poll from the Hobby School of Public Affairs at the University of Houston finds Texans are split on the state’s new ban on most abortions.

The U.S. Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling last month, stripping away the nation’s constitutional protections for abortion and leaving policy up to the states.

Texas was one of 13 states that had a so-called "trigger law". Thirty days after the Supreme Court’s ruling to overturn Roe v. Wade, Texas will ban all abortions from the moment of fertilization with narrow exceptions only to save the life of a pregnant patient or prevent "substantial impairment of major bodily function."

The online survey was conducted among 1,169 registered Texas voters. According to the Hobby School of Public Affairs, the respondents are representative of the population of Texas registered voters and were matched to a sampling frame on gender, age, race/ethnicity, presidential vote history, and education.

The poll found that 50% of Texans oppose the state’s new ban on abortion, and 46% of Texans support it.

The poll also found that 80% of Texas Democrats oppose the state’s new ban, while 76% of Texas Republicans support it.

Respondents were also asked to choose one of eight distinct policies that closest matched their own preference of what abortion policy should be in the state. It found that 77% of Texans preferred policy more permissive than the state’s new abortion ban, and that 72% of Texans preferred policy more restrictive than what was previously permitted in the U.S. under prior doctrines established by Roe v. Wade (1973) and Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992).

The report further examines voters' opinions on policy for criminal charges and breaks down responses based on demographic factors. Click here to see the full report.