Poll: TN split on abortion rules, against gay marriage

Tennesseans favor some, but not all, of the the abortion rules proposed by state lawmakers, according to a poll released Saturday by Middle Tennessee State University.

Most adults in the state favor a regulation that would require doctors to talk to women about risks and alternatives before they get abortions, the poll found. At the same time, only 35 percent support a regulation that would require medical personnel to describe a woman's ultrasound aloud before an abortion.

An amendment to the Tennessee constitution passed in 2014 opened the door for legislative restrictions on abortions.

Ken Blake, the director of the poll, said responses seemed to be closely tied to religious affiliations.

"Across every form of abortion regulation we asked about in the poll, the proportion in favor of it came in more than 10 percentage points higher among evangelical Christians than among non-evangelicals," Blake said in a statement.

Smaller majority against same-sex marriage

Fifty-five percent of Tennesseans are against same-sex marriages, the poll found. That number is down from the 64-percent opposition reported in a 2014 poll from MTSU.

Religious identity also seemed to play a key role in people's attitudes on this topic. Seventy percent of evangelicals were against same-sex marriage, while only 29 percent of non-evangelicals were in opposition.

The poll also found that 53 percent of Tennesseans are against raising the state's gas tax to fund better roads and bridges.

The poll's margin of error is 4 percentage points.

Who took the poll

Interviewers talked to 600 Tennessee residents who were at least 18 years old. Researchers used Census data to ensure the residents were representative of the state's total population.

On abortion

• 57 percent favor requiring a doctor to discuss risks, benefits and alternatives before performing an abortion. 27 percent oppose.

• 48 percent favor requiring a woman to get an ultrasound within three days of an abortion. 36 percent oppose.

• 52 percent favor requiring that a woman is offered a chance to see an ultrasound before an abortion. 31 percent oppose.

• 35 percent favor requiring that the ultrasound be described aloud before an abortion if a woman doesn't want to see it. 48 percent oppose.

• 42 percent favor requiring that audio of the heartbeat detected during an ultrasound be played before an abortion. 43 percent oppose.

Reach Adam Tamburin at 615-726-5986 and on Twitter @tamburintweets.