2020 Reproductive Rights Polling

In January 2020, Dan Jones & Associates conducted a phone survey on behalf of  Planned Parenthood Association of Utah, Alliance for a Better Utah, and the ACLU of Utah. The survey asked questions about sex education, birth control, and abortion. The target audience was the general population aged 18+ across the state of Utah. The results showed that Utahns overwhelming support access to sex education and reproductive health care and do not want more restrictions to abortion care. 
 

Methodology:

The survey was in field from January 23rd through February 9th, 2020. Calls were administered to both landline and cell phone numbers, split 58% to 42%. With a final sample size of 793, the margin of error was +/-3.48%. To ensure adequate representation of the population of Utah, quotas were set by both county and age, proportional to the latest population estimates from the US Census Bureau.

Results:

Sex Education

• 65% of Utahns support medically-accurate sex education curriculum in Utah schools, with 51% favoring “Comprehensive sex education” and 14% favoring “Preventative sex education”.

  • Support for medically accurate sex education is driven by Utah’s unaffiliated and Democratic voters (75% and 93%, respectively), with 43% of Republicans in support.

  • By contrast, only 29% of Utahns support an abstinence-centered curriculum, with 21% favoring “Abstinence- based or Abstinence-‘Plus’ sex education” and 8% favoring “Abstinence-only sex education”.

• An overwhelming majority of Utahns believe it is important to cover a wide variety of topics in sex education curriculum.

  • Including sexually transmitted diseases/infections (96%), HIV/AIDS (95%), healthy relationships (95%), consent (91%) and birth control (91%).

Birth Control

• 80% of Utahns believe it is important to provide state funding for reproductive health services including family planning and birth control for lower income individuals.

  • 68% of Republicans and 96% of Democrats believe it is important to provide reproductive health services funding for lower income individuals.

• A third (34%) of Utahns pay for their birth control entirely out-of-pocket.

  • Even accounting for insurance coverage, a plurality of Utahns are paying for their birth control out-of-pocket.

• A majority of Utahns believe individuals under age 18 should have access to confidential health services without parental involvement.

  • 57% of Utahns indicate individuals ought to have access to services such as STD testing, birth control, or pregnancy testing without parental involvement.

Roe v. Wade & Abortion

• A majority (52%) of Utahns would vote to uphold Roe v Wade were it up for reconsideration.

  • Support for Roe v. Wade is highest among Democrats (88%) and unaffiliated voters (61%). By contrast, only 26% of Republicans would vote to uphold Roe.

• Without being informed about Utah’s current restrictions on abortion, 30% of Utahns indicate they want Utah’s laws around abortion to be stricter, while 35% said they want the laws to be less strict. The remaining 35% would prefer the laws remain the same.

• After being informed about Utah’s current restrictions on abortion (i.e. state-directed counseling, 72-hour waiting period, private and public insurance limitations), 80% of Utahns said the state does not need additional restrictions on abortion.

  • Of the 30% of Utahns who initially indicated they want stricter laws, about half (47%) changed their mind and said they do not wish for additional restrictions after hearing the list of current restrictions in place.

  • Among respondents who described themselves as “Conservative” and “Somewhat conservative,” 44% and 49%, respectively, changed their minds and declined to support additional restrictions after learning about the current abortion restrictions in place in Utah.

• Utahns cite a wide variety of concerns if Roe v. Wade was repealed and abortion laws became stricter in Utah.

  • Other common concerns are a negative life outcome for children of mothers who did not want to carry to term (18%), increase in maternal mortality (16%), and more children ending up in state custody (15%).

  • The number one concern is a potential rise in unsafe, self-induced abortions, with 25% of Utahns mentioning that issue.

• A two-thirds majority (65%) of Utahns oppose a law that would require health care providers to read a message written by lawmakers, who lack medical training, before an abortion procedure.