Only a small minority of Wyoming residents support a total ban on abortion, but most residents support at least some restrictions. That's according to a new statewide survey from the University of Wyoming conducted this fall.
It found that about 36 percent of state residents say abortion should be a personal choice; another 36 percent say that abortion should only be allowed in extreme cases and 19 percent say abortion should be allowed in other situations. Altogether, about 90 percent of state residents think abortion should be allowed at least sometimes. Just seven percent support a total ban.
Survey director and UW Political Science Professor Jim King said the new findings fall within the margin of error for all the surveys UW has done on abortion since 2002.
"Everything has been consistent, basically, over the last 20 years," King said.
These opinions affect the way Wyomingites vote, but not by much. King said pro-choice Republicans were more likely to vote for Democrat Lynette Grey Bull when she ran for Wyoming's U.S. House seat. But the majority of Republicans, anti-abortion or otherwise, still overwhelmingly supported the Republican Harriet Hageman.
"Republicans who held the pro-choice position were more divided," King said. "Now, they certainly still continue to support Hageman because, you know, this one issue is not deciding the election."
The margin of error was +/- 4.3 percentage points.