It appears that the video releases which show Planned Parenthood employees talking about the legal things they do could not be spun in a way to make Planned Parenthood look bad.  In other words, Operation Defund Planned Parenthood is a fail. Yougov, a right-wing polling firm, has found that people’s opinions of PP have barely changed due to the videos.

Not surprisingly, those with a negative view of PP are misinformed about the organization. Asked what services they associate with Planned Parenthood – and given up to three choices – the opponents of Planned Parenthood overwhelmingly think of it as an abortion provider.  For supporters, the image is quite different.  More cite the organization’s role in providing contraception, sex education and pregnancy testing than see it as an abortion provider.

Also not surprising — there are large gender and political differences in how Americans see Planned Parenthood.  Women have positive views while men are divided.  Democrats are overwhelmingly favorable; Republicans are not.  Young adults have very different views from senior citizens.

The video seems not to have moved many people and the overall opinion of abortion is similar to what it was two years ago.  Americans are almost evenly divided on whether it should be generally legal or generally illegal, though most who say it should be legal want some restrictions, and most of those who want it illegal believe it should be available at least in a few cases. Women (22%) are nearly twice as likely as men (12%) to say abortion should always be legal.  And while seven in ten Republicans say abortion should be illegal, most Republicans also say it should at least be permitted in special circumstances.

So it is like I said the other day — in the scheme of things, the landscape hasn’t changed when it comes to abortion rights.