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*Mona-Lisa Saperstein voice* Abortion pills, please!
Just when you thought things couldn’t get much worse for abortion rights in America, Texas said, “hold my beer.”
If you haven’t been carefully tracking the steady erosion of women’s rights, let us catch you up! Abortion is banned in 13 states, and in some places like Alabama and Arkansas, that includes cases of rape and incest.
Recently, conservative legal group Alliance Defending Freedom decided to really push the villain envelope by filing a federal lawsuit in Texas claiming that the FDA lacked the authority to approve the abortion drug mifepristone. Abortion pills are a safe way to end an early pregnancy and in 2020, they accounted for 54% of abortions. As access to abortion becomes increasingly difficult, abortion pills are an extremely critical option. The case is before Trump-appointed judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, whose villain origin story shaped his deeply anti-abortion beliefs. Not to alarm anyone, but it’s not looking great, guys!
Despite the impending doom, Data for Progress finds 59 percent of voters disapprove of overturning the FDA’s approval of abortion medications like mifepristone. This includes 72 percent of Democrats, 65 percent of Independents, and 40 percent of Republicans. Hey, Republican lawmakers — wanna get wild?? Wanna do something crazy?? Maybe pass laws that voters actually agree with!!
Data for Progress also finds voters across party lines are in favor of implementing policies to protect abortion. For example, 66 percent of voters support protecting abortion providers from facing criminal penalties for providing abortion services, and 64 percent of voters support passing federal legislation to protect abortion rights. Fifty-one percent of voters support opening abortion clinics on federal lands. These all sound fab to us! Bring on the abortion policy Hail Mary!!
Republicans, the numbers don’t lie. Voters from your own party want to protect abortion access, so why are you being difficult? Drop the lawsuit, bring back Roe v. Wade, and (after some group counseling) we can all be acquaintances (at the most).
Read the full blog and polling here.
Here are some other highlights from DFP this week:
abcde-f-u, congressional republicans.
It’s a tale as old as time: As the showdown over the debt ceiling looms, Republicans in Congress are proposing cuts to important social programs that Americans depend on. Hey Republicans, we’ve seen this one before. Get a new move.
Eighty-four million Americans, including low-income children, seniors, and disabled individuals, rely on Medicaid for healthcare. Yet, Republicans are just foaming at the mouth to make cuts to the program. They’re also very eager to make cuts to Social Security and Medicare. At this point, we’re suspicious. There’s no logical reason to cut these social programs, so it must be a weird Republican fetish.
Sorry to burst your bubble Republicans, but Data for Progress finds that voters overwhelmingly want to increase or maintain federal funding for federal programs. Nearly half of all voters want to increase funding for Medicaid, and 89 percent believe that funding for the program should either be increased or remain the same. As absolutely crazy as it sounds, only 7 percent of voters believe that Medicaid funding should be cut. Who would have thought that voters want to ensure low-income families and disabled individuals have healthcare? A foreign concept!
Data for Progress also finds a majority of voters reject proposals to cut Medicaid. When shown each of the proposals, a majority of voters say they would rather leave Medicaid as is than pursue Republicans’ proposed changes. In fact, not a single Republican proposal had more than 19 percent support from likely voters. Oof. Major L.
To be totally honest, Republicans, this is pretty embarrassing for you guys. Have you thought about maybe changing your entire platform? Just a thought.
Read the full blog and polling here.
You probably didn’t hear this from the K-12 curriculum, but news flash, there’s institutional racism in America.
States like North Dakota and Iowa are trying really hard to pretend that racism doesn’t exist. Instead of teaching the next generation about modern-day racism and important movements like Black Lives Matter, they’re penalizing districts that teach “race scapegoating,” and prohibiting the teaching of “divisive subjects,” like “the United States of America is fundamentally racist.” Yeah, that’s real! You can’t make this stuff up!
Despite efforts to limit the discussions of racism in K-12 schools (you know, the places where minds are molded and shaped and all of that important nonsense), Data for Progress finds a majority of voters support teaching about racism, slavery, Black Lives Matter, and other controversial subjects in an age-appropriate manner. Voters support teaching about slavery by a +72-point margin, the American history of racism by a +65-point margin, and modern-day racism and racial inequality by a +46-point margin.
We also find 66 percent of voters support teaching AP African American studies in high schools, including 89 percent of Democrats, 69 percent of Independents, and 44 percent of Republicans. So, instead of trying to gaslight students in their own history classes about racism in America, why don’t we try, we don’t know, teaching about it so the next generation can do better? Voters are clearly on board with that plan, so state lawmakers, why don’t you join us?
Read the full blog and polling here.
Voters support criminal charges for those involved in Tyre Nichols’ killing.
The five officers involved in Tyre Nichols’ tragic death are currently facing criminal charges for second-degree murder, aggravated assault, and aggravated kidnapping. Police killings of civilians in America have been increasing, with 2022 the deadliest year on record so far. It’s crucial that we hold these officers accountable and implement reforms to end police violence.
Data for Progress finds 88 percent of voters support the decision to criminally charge the police officers involved in the killing of Nichols, including 94 percent of Democrats, 88 percent of Independents, and 83 percent of Republicans.
We also find a majority of voters support police reforms that can help prevent civilian killings. Voters support disciplining officers that were found to use excessive force by a +86-point margin and requiring officers to intervene when excessive force is used and report on their peers by a +83-point margin. Applying these reforms can help save the lives of civilians and ensure that preventable deaths don’t occur.
Read the full blog and polling here.
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