A new poll commissioned by Concerned Women for America is putting numbers behind several cultural issues that conservative groups believe could matter in the upcoming midterm elections. The survey reports substantial support for restrictions involving abortion medication, medical gender-transition treatments for minors and participation in women’s sports, although the findings reflect one organization’s commissioned polling rather than a definitive measure of the electorate.
The results arrive amid a broader argument over what podcaster Allie Beth Stuckey has called “toxic empathy.” Stuckey has argued that political slogans such as “abortion is health care,” “love is love” and “no human being is illegal” can frame complicated policy disputes primarily through emotional appeals. CWA’s polling suggests that, at least among its respondents, majorities favor several positions commonly associated with social conservatives.
One of the clearest findings involves women’s athletics. According to CWA, more than 69% of respondents said it was very or somewhat important to their midterm vote that candidates oppose requiring female athletes to compete or share locker rooms with transgender women and girls, whom the survey described as biological males.
The abortion drug mifepristone produced another notable result. More than 67% of respondents said they definitely or probably supported restoring an FDA requirement for an in-person doctor’s visit before the drug is dispensed.
Matt Carpenter, director of FRC Action, argued that the number should get the attention of politicians.
“The results here clearly show voters are supportive of a socially conservative agenda,” Carpenter told The Washington Stand. He specifically pointed to the nearly 70% support reported for reinstating an in-person dispensing requirement.
Attorney General Todd Blanche has also recently discussed the issue. During his Senate confirmation hearing, Blanche told Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri that the Justice Department was allowing the FDA to conduct its work while considering protections for unborn children and state laws.
CWA additionally reported that 53% of voters identified protecting the unborn and reproductive policy as their most important issue, though the wording and methodology of issue-priority questions are important when interpreting such findings.
Another question took a different approach to the corporate politics surrounding abortion. Respondents were asked whether companies that cover abortion services or abortion-related travel should also assist employees with childcare when they choose to give birth. According to CWA, 79% of women and 77% of men agreed.
Gender-transition treatments for minors also registered substantial opposition. More than 63% of respondents somewhat or strongly opposed providing puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones to people younger than 18.
CWA President and CEO Penny Nance argued that candidates should pay attention to those numbers, saying the findings indicate support for the organization’s positions on women’s sports, abortion, parental concerns and gender-transition treatments.
Children’s entertainment was another focus. Sixty percent of respondents said they were concerned by a separate CWA survey claiming that 40% of Netflix programs rated for children contained LGBTQ-related themes, characters or storylines. That underlying figure comes from CWA’s own analysis, an important distinction when evaluating the polling question built around it.
