FOX4/Emerson College Poll surveys Missourians on abortion, sports betting
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A new FOX4/Emerson College poll surveyed 1,830 registered voters in the state. One of the questions asked was which opinion came closest to their view of abortion access.
Voters had three choices. 11% said a woman should be allowed to have an abortion. 45% said the procedure should be allowed, only in cases of rape or incest or when the woman’s life is in danger. 44% said the decision should be a matter of personal choice.
The polling comes out as the group Missourians for Constitutional Freedom tries to reverse the state’s ban on abortion but allow for a restriction or ban once the fetus is vital. Medical experts say that’s around 24 weeks gestation.
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Park University Political Science Professor Matt Harris talked about the push to get enough voters to overturn the state’s ban in an interview with FOX4 Friday.
“That 45% or whatever that says abortion should always be legal, you can assume that that 45% would back something like this,” he said. “I think that’s a safe assumption, and then it’s a question of, ‘OK, are you able to get some of those people who say they want exceptions for rape or incest who maybe don’t want to go as far as what this is saying.'”
The same people polled considered the Missouri U.S. Senate race and a hypothetical matchup between Democrat Lucas Kunce and Republican Josh Hawley. 30% said they’d vote for Kunce. 43% said they’d vote for Hawley. 7% said they’d vote for someone else. 20% said they’d be undecided.
“We’ve seen in Missouri that voters are sometimes willing to go in a more leftward direction,” Harris said. “We’ve seen that on things like Medicaid expansion. We’ve seen that on things like marijuana. Sometimes they’re willing to go more left when it comes to these sort of ballot measures than they are when it comes to selecting for example the candidates, the representation they want to send to Washington D.C.”
The same people polled were asked if they’d support an initiative to allow sports betting in the state. 62% said they would vote yes. 38% said they would vote no. Efforts for lawmakers to legalize sports betting have repeatedly stalled in past legislative sessions. Supporters need to collect enough signatures on this issue by early May to get it on the ballot in November.
“When you look at sports betting, it seems like there’s pretty broad support,” Harris said. “If you look at the Crosstabs there, Democrats support it, Independents support it, and Republicans are a little lower but still, a majority of them support it, so it seems like there’s pretty broad support for sports betting in Missouri.”
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Two people FOX4 talked to in the Power & Light District think sports betting should be legalized.
“So, we don’t have to go all the way to Kansas to Metcalf to place bets for the Chiefs games and other games they play, the football games,” Kansas City resident Tamirria Smith. “It’s not fair.”
“Hey man, your polling’s right,” Kansas City resident Kenneith Tubbs said. “Let’s get gambling legal on the Missouri side. That way, we can save gas and make more money.”
Sports betting’s also illegal in California, home to the San Francisco 49ers. Tubbs said 49ers fans in that state have to go to Nevada where the Super Bowl’s being played to bet legally.
