A majority of Hispanic-American adults, regardless of religious affiliation, support some form of abortion access, according to a new Associate Press/NORC poll published Monday.
About 67% of Hispanic respondents nationwide said they believe abortion should be legal in “all cases” or “most cases.” This includes 62% of Hispanic Protestants and 66% of Hispanic Catholics.
The U.S. Hispanic population accounted for more than 70% of the overall U.S. population growth between 2022 and 2023, making it the fastest-growing demographic group and voting bloc in the country.
An estimated 36.2 million Hispanic Americans are eligible to vote in 2024, accounting for nearly 15% of all eligible voters. That’s up from about 13.6% in 2020 and only 7.4% in 2000.
According to the poll of 2,028 respondents, about 4 in 10 Hispanic adults in the U.S. identify as Catholic, and a third identify as Protestant, which is in line with national trends on abortion among religious believers irrespective of ethnicity.
However, Hispanic respondents to the poll were sharply divided over what gestational age should be the cutoff point for abortion access, a question that is often left out of most polls.
Nearly 40% of Hispanic Protestants and 35% of Hispanic Catholics supported a nationwide ban on abortion after 6 weeks of pregnancy, at which point a fetal heartbeat can be detected on an ultrasound.
By contrast, only a quarter of adults nationwide support a federal six-week gestational age limit on abortion.
Slight majorities of both Hispanic Protestants and Hispanic Catholics, 52% and 53%, respectively, reported supporting a federal 15-week abortion ban, which would prohibit elective abortions at about the time when a fetus can feel pain.
That is compared to 41% of all adults and 48% of all Hispanics, including those who do not report any religious affiliation.
Although the poll did not specify the partisan affiliation of religious Hispanic Americans, other polling data this year suggest the number of Latinos who identify as leaning Democrat has decreased significantly since 2020.
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Abortion is a top-of-mind concern for many voters in this election regardless of party affiliation, with Vice President Kamala Harris making the call for federal protections for abortion at any stage of pregnancy a central tenet of her campaign.
In addition to abortion policy, voters in 10 states will decide this November whether or not to enshrine abortion rights into their state constitutions.