West Virginians are pretty evenly split in their support of the state’s abortion law.
A MetroNews West Virginia Poll question asked respondents, “As you may or may not know, beginning in September of 2022 West Virginia prohibits abortion at all stages of pregnancy except in the case of a nonmedically viable fetus, an ectopic pregnancy, or medical emergency. Victims of rape and incest can obtain an abortion up to eight weeks of gestation, but only if they report to law enforcement first.
“Do you support or oppose this law in West Virginia?”
The responses were a near-even split.
Forty-five percent said they support the policy as reflected in current law, while 44% said they oppose it.
The remainder, 11%, said they are not sure.
“It’s split right down the middle,” said Rex Repass, president of Research America and author of the West Virginia Poll.
He said that even split carried through regardless of gender. The main difference in response was by political party. Republicans tended to be more supportive of the West Virginia law. Democrats are more likely to oppose the law.
“So it’s definitely more of an ideological issue than it is a gender issue in West Virginia,” Repass said.
Some Democrats in West Virginia, including gubernatorial candidate Steve Williams and Delegate Kayla Young, have pushed for a statewide ballot measure on West Virginia’s abortion law.
After the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs ruling left abortion policies to the states, six of them — California, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Vermont and Ohio — have voted on abortion-related constitutional amendments. The side favoring access to abortion prevailed in every state.
Statewide ballot initiatives on abortion this year will be before voters on election day in states like Florida, Arizona and Colorado.
The West Virginia Poll results demonstrates a sharply divided public, said Margaret Chapman Pomponio, executive director of West Virginia Free. But she said that organization’s past polling has shown that the percentage of people opposing West Virginia’s near-ban is actually higher.
“When folks understand the stone cold truth is that the so-called exceptions don’t really enable abortions to be performed here in clinical settings, unless someone’s very life is at risk, opposition really rises. Ob-gyns have left the state because of this ban, and most would tell you that they do not feel comfortable performing even medically necessary abortions because they are afraid of losing their licenses or worse,” she said.
“And, the rape and incest provisions are not just window dressing, they’re dangerous because they basically attempt to re-victimize victims. Victims of rape and incest rarely report to law enforcement out of very legitimate, well-founded fear for their safety; so the government’s exceptions for these victims ring totally hollow. I don’t think the average voter in this poll understands that. The legislature intentionally packaged the exceptions to make it more palatable to the public, plain and simple.” She said childcare and abortion issues are tied more closely than people might realize.
“West Virginians find ourselves in a childcare and reproductive health care crisis. We are living in maternity care and abortion deserts, and our childcare programs are woefully underfunded,” she said.
“We have to connect the dots and understand that these are all inter-related issues that not only put our quality of life at risk, but our economic well-being and personal health and safety as well. Beyond that, these grave situations drive young people and families out of state. We cannot afford to go on this way.”
The MetroNews West Virginia Poll included 400 completed interviews among registered voters likely to vote in the coming general election. The polling took place Aug. 21-27. All 55 counties are included in the sample. The confidence level is +/- 4.9 percentage points. The West Virginia Poll is presented by The Health Plan.
