By Dave Andrusko
Scott Rasmussen is the president of RMG Research, Inc. and best known for Rasmussen Report which tracks public opinion by polling likely voters. It’s a great resource for pro-lifers, because he often asks about abortion.
Last Thursday he wrote a fascinating story for The Federalist :”Why Overturning Roe May Help Republicans A Lot More Than It Helps Democrats.” Piece by piece he challenges the received wisdom that Democrats will benefit if Roe is overturned.
For our purposes, perhaps the most interesting result of his polling is how little the public understands about Roe. “Let’s begin with the reality that any poll asking whether voters want to overturn Roe is meaningless,” Rasmussen writes. “Why? Because voters don’t know what overturning that decision would mean. … Seventy-seven percent of voters mistakenly think it would make abortion illegal in the United States. “
What would happen if Roe were overturned would square nicely with public opinion. “65 percent of voters think abortion laws should be established by voters and their elected representatives. That’s exactly what will happen if Roe is overturned. Just 18 percent want to preserve the status quo.”
Rasmussen concludes, “If Democrats truly believed voters were with them on this issue, they would celebrate this triumph of democracy. Instead, they are outraged. Perhaps they recognize that overturning Roe will call their bluff and highlight the unpopularity of their policy desires.”
For example, the so-called Women’s Health Protection Act is really a pro-abortion grab bag of proposals, each more radical than the one before it. For example, “The bill would make abortion legal at any point during the pregnancy, up to the moment of birth,” Rasmussen writes. “That extreme position, now embraced by President Joe Biden, is supported by only 17 percent of voters.”
There are other intriguing results outlined in the article. But in summary, Rasmussen asks “With numbers like that, why would any swing-state senator want to be on record voting for late-term abortions, taxpayer funding of abortions, or the elimination of popular and very modest restrictions? Why would Schumer force them to do so?”
Answer? “ Their progressive base is demanding policies wildly out of step with the broad consensus of American voters,” he writes. “There is no easy way out for Democrats.”