Polling signals strong support for contraceptive access, including among Republican primary voters

Recent polling commissioned by R Street Institute found that contraception continues to receive strong support from a large majority of voters across the political spectrum. Bob Ward, the primary pollster, said of the findings: “Easy access to birth control is a priority for voters across the political spectrum, including those voters that are the conservative and pro-life base of the Republican Party.”

Findings

• 86 percent of registered voters and 78 percent of Republican primary voters agree that “it is important that adults have easy access to birth control.”
  
• Of the Republican primary voters who identify as “very conservative”, 73 percent agree that easy access is important. Similarly, 74 percent of “strongly pro-life” voters agree with this statement.
  
• A majority of Republican primary voters agree that:
  
  
  • Birth control is important because it gives couples the ability to decide whether, when, and how to have children (80 percent) and helps couples plan for, and grow, their family (75 percent)
  • Access to contraception results in better health outcomes for moms and babies (63 percent)
  • Access to contraception saves money: For every $1 spent on contraceptive services, almost $6 of public spending is saved. (55 percent)
• When voters were asked about their impressions of contraceptive methods, every method the poll presented–condoms, the pill, intrauterine devices, emergency contraception, and more–were net favorable, even among Republican primary voters.
  
• When voters were asked who they trust as a source of information on birth control, they listed doctors (88% for all registered voters; 82% for Republican primary voters) and pharmacists (80% for all registered voters; 73% for Republican primary voters). The least trusted sources for information on birth control include social media influencers/podcasters (19% for all registered voters; 18% for Republican primary voters) and politicians (19% for all registered voters;17% for Republican primary voters).
  
• Respondents across all categories listed a lack of health insurance (51%), cost (40%), and lack of provider access (39%) as the top three access barriers adults face. Republican primary voting women between ages of 18 and 49 also identified these as the top three barriers to contraceptive access, albeit in slightly different order: lack of health insurance (45%), followed by lack of provider access (41%), and cost (35%).
  

Methodology

On behalf of the R Street Institute, Fabrizio Ward interviewed 1,000 registered voters (RV) with an oversample up to 500 Republican Primary voters (RPV) nationwide from September 3-8, 2025. The interviews were conducted via cell phones (35%), landlines (25%), and SMS-to-Web (40%) to voters sampled from the voter file. Quotas for both the national RV and RPV surveys were set by region, age, gender, partisan affiliation, education, and race/ethnicity. Data for the national RV survey was weighted by region, age, gender, recalled 2024 vote, education, and race/ethnicity, based on targets derived from the voter file, census data, 2024 election results, and past research. Data for the national RPV survey was weighted by region, age, gender, partisan affiliation, and race/ethnicity, based on targets derived from the voter file and past research. Margin of sampling error for n1000 is ±3.1%. Margin of sampling error for n500 is ±4.4%.

For inquiries, contact Courtney Joslin.