This article is republished from Minnesota Independent, a partnership between Rewire and the Center for Independent Media. 

St. Cloud State University poll data released on Friday (PDF) shows most Minnesotans support abortion rights and oppose overturning Roe v. Wade,
a result that’s in line with polling throughout the decade.
Republicans, religious conservatives and those who never completed high
school were most likely to oppose abortion rights.

In the survey conducted this fall, 8.7 percent of respondents felt
that a woman should never have an abortion for any reason; 30.4 percent
said it’s acceptable in cases of rape, incest or to protect the life of
the mother; 12.6 percent said abortion is allowable only if the need to
have one “is clearly established”; and a plurality of those surveyed,
45.9 percent, said that abortion is a woman’s personal choice.

The preference for banning any and all abortion was higher among
Republicans (17 percent), Baptists (15 percent) and Catholics (12
percent). Lutheran support for a total ban was low (3 percent) and
comparable to non-religious people (2 percent). Minnesotans who had not
completed high school were much more likely to support a total ban on
abortion (24 percent).

Two-thirds of Minnesotans support maintaining Roe v. Wade,
the landmark 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision that determined a right
to abortion, while 25.4 percent would like to see that decision
overturned. The percentage of people who support an overturning of Roe
increased among Republicans (48 percent) and Baptists (69 percent).
Lutherans were less likely than Minnesotans in general to support
overturning Roe, with only 20 percent.

There were few differences between rural, suburban and urban responses.

St. Cloud State University will be releasing more data in the coming weeks, including Minnesotans’ views on same-sex marriage.