New polling by the progressive consortium Navigator Research shows that registered voters favor keeping medication abortion legal by a decisive 40-point margin, 64%-24%. But beyond the near-nonexistent support for outlawing the drug, known as mifepristone, the survey also showed the best arguments for keeping medication abortion legal fit perfectly under the rubric of freedom that President Joe Biden is using to underpin his reelection campaign.
Navigator tested more than half a dozen ways of framing the debate around medication abortion and found that many of the most persuasive arguments centered on values-based themes of personal freedom rather than process-based arguments. For instance, a judge undermining the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was considerably less compelling than the idea that getting an abortion is a personal and private decision that shouldn’t be intruded upon.
The argument for keeping medication abortion legal that tested best read: "Having an abortion is a personal decision that should be between a patient, their doctor, and their family: prescription abortion medication allows people to end early pregnancies safely and more privately."
49% of respondents found that framing "very convincing," and another 21% found it somewhat convincing, for a combined 70% who found it convincing, while just 23% were not convinced. The message also tested best among Republicans and independents who support keeping abortion legal, with fully 86% of that cohort finding it convincing.
Remember, some two-thirds of respondents already favor keeping medication abortion legal, so the messaging is simply a matter of juicing support among a public that is already inclined to agree with the Democratic position.
Many liberals are understandably incensed that a random federal judge in Texas is countering the medical judgment of the FDA, but using that disconnect to frame the debate isn't as compelling to most voters.
In fact, that framing tested the worst of the eight arguments offered in the survey: "The Texas judge's decision to suspend the FDA experts' approval of prescription abortion medication ignored the law and scientific research, substituting antiabortion politics for the FDA's experts and authority to review medications."
A bare majority of 51% found that argument convincing (32% very convincing, 19% somewhat convincing).
The survey's other important finding that three-in-five voters agree that attacks on medication abortion are simply part of a broader Republican agenda to ban abortion nationwide, including 78% of Democrats, 57% of independents, and nearly half of Republicans, 46%.
The survey shows that Democrats already enjoy broad public support for their attacks on the nationwide ruling banning mifepristone. But it also suggests Democrats should use the ruling in states that have moved to safeguard reproductive freedom to warn of the GOP agenda to force a nationwide ban that nullifies statewide laws.
Team Biden’s first campaign ad of the '24 cycle warns that the "values and beliefs" that built this country are under attack by an extreme movement that seeks to overturn elections, ban books, and eliminate a woman's right to choose."
The right-wing federal judge who is seeking to ban abortion medication for all Americans by judicial fiat fits perfectly within that framework and Democrats should be talking about as often as humanly possible.
Sign the petition: Urge the FDA to use its enforcement discretion to allow mifepristone to remain on the market.
The past week seems to have packed in a month’s worth of news. Markos and Kerry tackle it all, from Joe Biden’s big announcement to Tucker Carlson’s early retirement from Fox News.
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Navigator tested more than half a dozen ways of framing the debate around medication abortion and found that many of the most persuasive arguments centered on values-based themes of personal freedom rather than process-based arguments. For instance, a judge undermining the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was considerably less compelling than the idea that getting an abortion is a personal and private decision that shouldn’t be intruded upon.
The argument for keeping medication abortion legal that tested best read: "Having an abortion is a personal decision that should be between a patient, their doctor, and their family: prescription abortion medication allows people to end early pregnancies safely and more privately."
49% of respondents found that framing "very convincing," and another 21% found it somewhat convincing, for a combined 70% who found it convincing, while just 23% were not convinced. The message also tested best among Republicans and independents who support keeping abortion legal, with fully 86% of that cohort finding it convincing.
Remember, some two-thirds of respondents already favor keeping medication abortion legal, so the messaging is simply a matter of juicing support among a public that is already inclined to agree with the Democratic position.
Many liberals are understandably incensed that a random federal judge in Texas is countering the medical judgment of the FDA, but using that disconnect to frame the debate isn't as compelling to most voters.
In fact, that framing tested the worst of the eight arguments offered in the survey: "The Texas judge's decision to suspend the FDA experts' approval of prescription abortion medication ignored the law and scientific research, substituting antiabortion politics for the FDA's experts and authority to review medications."
A bare majority of 51% found that argument convincing (32% very convincing, 19% somewhat convincing).
The survey's other important finding that three-in-five voters agree that attacks on medication abortion are simply part of a broader Republican agenda to ban abortion nationwide, including 78% of Democrats, 57% of independents, and nearly half of Republicans, 46%.
The survey shows that Democrats already enjoy broad public support for their attacks on the nationwide ruling banning mifepristone. But it also suggests Democrats should use the ruling in states that have moved to safeguard reproductive freedom to warn of the GOP agenda to force a nationwide ban that nullifies statewide laws.
Team Biden’s first campaign ad of the '24 cycle warns that the "values and beliefs" that built this country are under attack by an extreme movement that seeks to overturn elections, ban books, and eliminate a woman's right to choose."
The right-wing federal judge who is seeking to ban abortion medication for all Americans by judicial fiat fits perfectly within that framework and Democrats should be talking about as often as humanly possible.
Sign the petition: Urge the FDA to use its enforcement discretion to allow mifepristone to remain on the market.
The past week seems to have packed in a month’s worth of news. Markos and Kerry tackle it all, from Joe Biden’s big announcement to Tucker Carlson’s early retirement from Fox News.
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