Roughly half of American voters said they support allowing abortion pills to be prescribed online and mailed to patients but still have concerns about safety, according to a new poll.
The Center Square’s Voters Voice Poll, conducted by Noble Predictive Insights, found that 51% of American voters at least “somewhat support” prescribing abortion pills online and mailing them directly to patients.
“More reliance on this online ordering means that they feel comfortable overall with online ordering on certain things that used to be more taboo,” said Mike Noble, founder of Noble Predictive Insights.
At the same time, 48% of American voters said mailing abortion pills “raises safety and accountability concerns because it may be harder to verify who is receiving or using the medication.
The poll was conducted from Aug. 12-16, surveying 2,533 registered voters in the United States. The sample was comprised of 930 Republicans, 930 Democrats and 673 Independent voters. Among independent voters, 330 respondents were classified as True Independents, or individuals who do not lean toward either major party when given the choice.
Democratic respondents and 18 to 29 year olds were most likely to support mail-order abortion pills, according to the poll. About 65% of Democrats and 65% of young people at least “somewhat support” mail-order abortion pills.
Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the federal right to abortion derived from Roe v. Wade in 2022, returning the issue to the states, legal challenges surrounding mail-order abortion drugs have escalated. The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals is set to hear a challenge from Louisiana against the Food and Drug Administration’s 2023 decision to allow dispensing of abortion pills like mifepristone virtually.
Louisana Attorney General Liz Merrill pointed to examples of pregnant women who were forced to take abortion drugs by their romantic partners after receiving an online prescription and mail-order delivery.
“If the Biden FDA had not removed in-person dispensing, my then-boyfriend would not have been able to obtain abortion drugs and pressure me to take them against my will,” Rosalie Markezich told Alliance Defending Freedom.
About 65% of Republican respondents said mail-order abortion drugs raise “safety and accountability concerns” because it is harder to verify who is receiving or using the medication. About 45% of female respondents and 53% of male respondents said the same.
Murrill also pointed to the availability of mail-order abortion drugs as antithetical to the Supreme Court’s ruling that allowed states to restrict abortion access.
“Out-of-state abortion drug peddlers are violating the criminal laws of Louisiana and other states across the country that choose life,” Murrill told the Alliance Defending Freedom. “They aren’t providing healthcare; they’re drug dealers.”
Justices on the high court allowed mail-order abortion pills to continue flowing through Louisiana while an appeal from the drug manufacturers is pending in lower courts.
About 37% of registered voters said they at least “somewhat oppose” prescribing abortion pills online and receiving it through the mail.
“Louisiana’s efforts have been thwarted by certain medical providers, private organizations, and States that abhor laws like Louisiana’s and seek to undermine their enforcement,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote in a dissent to the court’s decision.
Restrictions around abortion pills have remained a key issue for the second Trump administration. Pro-life advocates have called on greater restrictions for the medication but the broader population is clearly split on how to move forward.
On Aug. 19, Trump nominated Heidi Overton to serve as the new Food and Drug Commissioner. Overton could be in key in rolling back access to mail-order abortion drugs.
“If they think they can police it and keep it accountable remotely, sure,” Noble said. “I think inevitably there’s gonna be some fraud, though.”