The University of Houston and Texas Southern University jointly conducted a poll from October 4 to October 21, 2021 regarding Texans’ attitudes related to abortion. Some results:

47% of Texans thought that, after 6 weeks gestation, abortion should be either illegal or legal only in cases of rape or to save the live of the mother. This is compared to 41% who thought it should be legal in all or most cases (and 13% who said they didn’t know). Data show that abortions in cases of rape or to save the life of the mother constitute less than 2% of all abortions. By this definition, a plurality of Texans support outlawing nearly all abortions after 6 weeks gestation.

[The poll] reveals no salient gender differences in regard to abortion, with one minor exception. Women (41%) are significantly more likely than men (33%) to believe abortion should always be illegal after 20 weeks.

[Read more about how many women oppose abortion – Hi. We exist. – XOXO Pro-Life Women.]

The poll also broke down results by age (Figure 4) and religiosity (Figure 5). These trends were similar to past polls on abortion: younger generations and less religious people support abortion more than others. It’s worth noting, however, that in every generation, more respondents said abortion should be illegal in all or nearly all cases than legal in all or most cases. The same can’t be said for religiosity. At 6 weeks, people who say religion is not important at all were more likely to support than oppose elective abortion. Still, about 1 out of 5 of this group said abortion should be illegal in all or nearly all cases. As always, we pro-life secularists are both the minority and still more prevalent than people expect.

Note these questions are all regarding an embryo’s specific gestational age (e.g. 6 weeks) rather than any developmental milestones (a heartbeat). The poll also asked Texans about their level of support for a ban once a fetal heartbeat is detectable except when abortion is necessary to save the mother’s life. Of those who expressed a view (that is, excluding the 13% of respondents who answered “no opinion”), 55% of Texans support such a ban, including: