Republican debate highlights and analysis: Candidates squabble in Simi Valley

Abortion was a big topic in last month’s debate, so we asked about it specifically in this month’s pre-debate 538/Washington Post/Ipsos poll. We asked if a new federal law banning abortion after six weeks of pregnancy except in the case of rape, incest, or when the mother's life is in danger, to which 57 percent of likely Republican primary voters said that they’d support the policy and 36 percent said they’d oppose it (8 percent didn’t know or skipped the question).

However, when we asked who they think should make the decision whether a woman can have an abortion, 54 percent said the decision should be left to the woman and her doctor, while 44 percent said abortion should be regulated by law.

—Analysis by Holly Fuong of 538

Yeah, Jacob — not a lot of voters are going to stay home in a swing state in a presidential election with an abortion ballot measure (maybe) on the ballot.

—Analysis by Nathaniel Rakich of 538

DeSantis is asked about how he'll win over pro-choice voters in states like Arizona and, while he doesn't give an actual strategy, he says he's already done it in Florida, citing his big victory in 2022. But as many have written, Florida's Republican wave last year was just as much if not more a function of Democrats just staying home altogether rather than voting for DeSantis.
-Jacob Rubashkin, 538 contributor

Dana Perino is asking about abortion policy. In an August survey conducted by SurveyMonkey for 19th News, only 15 percent of Republicans said that abortion should be illegal in all cases. A majority of Republicans said that abortion should be legal if the patient’s life is endangered (71 percent), in cases of rape or incest (68 percent), if the patient’s health is endangered (55 percent), or if the fetus is not expected to survive (52 percent). Only 19 percent of Republicans said abortion should be legal for women who do not wish to be pregnant.
—Analysis by 538