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Majority of home buyers and sellers want to live in a state with legal abortion, Redfin survey shows


Weston Blasi - 

THE MARGIN

According to a new survey from Redfin, 52% of the Americans they talked with said they would either “only” live in such a state, or “prefer” to live in such a state. The remaining percentage said they didn’t value the issue or wouldn’t want to live in a state where abortion is fully legal.

That survey was conducted in August 2022, after the United States Supreme Court released an opinion in June that overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark abortion ruling from 1973.

The number of American home buyers and sellers who say they want to live in a state where abortion is fully legal has increased significantly since the Supreme Court decision. According to a similar Redfin survey from 2021, 40% of Americans said they would either “only” live in such a state, or “prefer” to live in a state where abortion is legal, indicating a 12% increase from 2021 to 2022.

In both 2021 and 2021 Redfin surveyed 1,000 Americans who had moved within the past 18 months.

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When the 2021 survey was conducted, abortion rights in the U.S. were under less pressure than they are in 2022, likely leading to the higher percentage of people wishing to live in a state where abortion is legal.

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling, states now have legislative power to ban or restrict abortions, and at least 23 states have laws or policies that regulate abortion providers.

See also: Joe Manchin reacts to Roe v. Wade ruling: ‘I trusted Justice Gorsuch and Justice Kavanaugh’

The move by the Supreme Court led to many U.S. companies offering to compensate their employees for travel costs related to getting an abortion if they can’t get one in their home state. Some of those companies include Tesla Inc. Target Corp. and Bank of America

Prior the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision, polling showed a majority of Americans wanted Roe to remain intact. A January poll from CNN showed 69% of Americans wanted to keep Roe as law, while 30% wanted the ruling overturned.

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Polling on abortion has remained fairly consistent for over 20 years. Since 1989, between 52% and 66% of U.S. adults have stated they want Roe to remain in place, according to polling conducted and compiled by Gallup.