Polls show Americans support funding Planned Parenthood while passing a 20-week abortion ban

Eight in 10 Americans oppose cutting federal funding to Planned Parenthood (PP) if the money is used for non-abortion services like breast cancer screening, new Quinnipiac poll results published Friday show; and a smaller majority, 62 percent, supports preserving funding when the money's use is not specified. The same survey found that 58 percent of Americans support some abortion restrictions, while 28 percent say it should be legal in all cases and 9 percent want it to be illegal always. Some 70 percent of respondents, including 43 percent of self-identified Republicans, said they agree with the landmark 1973 Supreme Court case, Roe v. Wade.

However, a Marist poll also released this week in advance of the March for Life in Washington paints a more complex picture. That survey found nearly a quarter of those who identify as "pro-life" or "pro-choice" sometimes think the other label applies. Only 35 percent said they support using tax dollars to pay for abortions (a question asked without reference to PP specifically), while 61 percent said they oppose it. Strikingly, the Marist poll also found 59 percent of Americans would support "banning abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy except to save the life of the mother," a proposal President Trump has said he would sign into law.

The Marist survey was funded by the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic organization, and has a 1.9 percent margin of error. The Quinnipiac margin of error is 2.8 percent.

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