Abortion messaging shifts NC Senate race support, study finds
A new report indicates that highlighting Roy Cooper's abortion record moved voters toward Michael Whatley.
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Abortion messaging shifts NC Senate race support, study finds
Photograph: khbrknews (embedded from source)
What this story says
- Messages highlighting North Carolina Democratic Senate candidate Roy Cooper's abortion record shifted support toward Republican Michael Whatley, according to a study by Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America.
- The largest shift in voter support was generated by messages focused on federal abortion legislation.
- Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America has contacted over 770,000 homes in North Carolina as part of a voter-contact strategy.
- Roy Cooper previously vetoed a 12-week abortion ban in 2023, a veto that was later overridden by the Republican-controlled General Assembly.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 6 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. Coverage measured .
Trust
50/100
Craft
65/100
Hype
45/100
6 sources · methodology
Thin on the left so far
None of the 6 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated left.
This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.
A new study commissioned by Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America indicates that campaign messages focusing on North Carolina Democratic Senate candidate Roy Cooper's stance on abortion have influenced voter support towards Republican candidate Michael Whatley. The study found that messages specifically addressing federal abortion legislation produced the most significant movement in voter preference.
Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America has engaged with more than 770,000 households across North Carolina. The organisation is implementing a voter-contact strategy aimed at persuadable voters and those with low turnout history, in anticipation of what is expected to be a highly competitive Senate race. This effort seeks to influence the outcome of the election for the seat currently held by retiring Republican Senator Thom Tillis.
The group's messaging targets Cooper's record as governor, including his veto of North Carolina's 2023 law that banned most abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy. Cooper had argued the law would harm women and families, but the Republican-controlled General Assembly subsequently overrode his veto, allowing the ban to take effect.
Disagreement on study methodology
The New York Ledger reported that Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America commissioned Evolving Strategies to conduct a randomized-controlled trial. This trial involved an online panel of 2,607 registered voters in North Carolina, using a technique to match respondents to their voter file and consumer data. The study measured stated candidate and policy support after respondents read different messages, with estimates for persuadable voters based on predictive modeling. The Ledger stated that all messages were at least somewhat effective, shifting the Republican vote margin by a net of 1.7 to nearly 5 points. The 'Fed' message criticizing Cooper's support for federal legislation garnered the highest shift at +4.9 points, followed by the 'Record' message attacking his gubernatorial actions at +3.2 points. The 'Hard Positive' message highlighting Whatley's pro-life positions shifted the margin by +3.9 points, while the 'Soft Positive' message achieved +1.7 points.
What the coverage left out
None of the right-rated digests mention the specific methodology or the names of the researchers involved in the study commissioned by Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America. The New York Ledger, the only centre-rated report, provided these details, including the number of participants and the names Evolving Strategies and Marjorie Dannenfelser.
Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 1 time, most recently on 22 Sept 2026, 13:30, and will add the sides that appear.
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
0 rated outlets
No outlet rated left has run this story so far. We are still checking, and will say plainly if that does not change.
Centre
1 rated outlet
- The New York Ledger's report led with the finding that messages highlighting Roy Cooper's abortion record shifted support toward Republican Michael Whatley, citing a new study. It detailed the group's voter-contact strategy, reaching over 770,000 homes and targeting persuadable and low-turnout voters. The report included Cooper's veto of the 12-week abortion ban and the subsequent override by the General Assembly. It also provided details on the study's methodology, commissioned by Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America and conducted by Evolving Strategies, involving 2,607 registered voters and testing four different abortion messages. The Ledger quoted Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of SBA Pro-Life America, discussing the effectiveness of messages related to the 12-week limit veto and bills concerning babies born alive after attempted abortions.
Right
5 rated outlets
- The right-rated reports, primarily digests, consistently highlighted that a new study commissioned by Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America found messages about Roy Cooper's abortion record shifted support toward Republican Michael Whatley. They noted that messages focused on federal abortion legislation produced the largest movement. These reports also mentioned that Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America had reached over 770,000 homes in North Carolina and was deploying a voter-contact strategy targeting persuadable and low-turnout voters. The digests also included the fact that Roy Cooper vetoed North Carolina's 2023 law banning most abortions after 12 weeks, and that the Republican-controlled General Assembly later overrode his veto.
Questions about this coverage
- How did the left and right cover Abortion messaging shifts NC Senate race support, study finds?
- Of the 6 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 0% are rated left, 17% are rated centre, 83% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
- Is Abortion messaging shifts NC Senate race support, study finds left or right?
- Too few of the outlets on this story carry a published leaning rating to say. 6 of them do, and this site does not characterise a field under 12: at that size one newsroom filing moves the share by ten points. The percentages above are the count as it stands.
- Is the coverage of Abortion messaging shifts NC Senate race support, study finds biased?
- Abortion messaging shifts NC Senate race support, study finds is one event reported by 6 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
- Which side is not reporting Abortion messaging shifts NC Senate race support, study finds?
- When we first saw this story, outlets rated left had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
- Which outlets covered Abortion messaging shifts NC Senate race support, study finds?
- 6 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
- What did the study find about messages on abortion?
- A study commissioned by Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America found that messages highlighting Roy Cooper's abortion record shifted voter support towards Republican Michael Whatley. Messages focusing on federal abortion legislation were the most effective in moving voters.
- What is Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America doing in North Carolina?
- The group has reached over 770,000 homes in North Carolina with a voter-contact strategy. They are targeting persuadable and low-turnout voters with messages about abortion and Roy Cooper's record on the issue.
- What is Roy Cooper's record on abortion legislation?
- Roy Cooper vetoed North Carolina's 2023 law that banned most abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy, stating it would harm women and families. The Republican-controlled General Assembly later overrode his veto.
Read it at the source
6 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
Centre
1Right
5- Pro-life group ramps up NC ground game as report finds fed abortion message gives GOP candidate biggest boost (opens khbrknews in a new tab)
- Pro-life group ramps up NC ground game as report finds fed abortion message gives GOP candidate biggest boost - NEW YORK TIMES POST (opens nytimespost.com in a new tab)
nytimespost.com — is nytimespost.com biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Pro-life group ramps up NC ground game as report finds fed abortion message gives GOP candidate biggest boost (opens wfmd.com in a new tab)
- Pro-life group ramps up NC ground game as report finds fed abortion message gives GOP candidate biggest boost – Democratic Accent (opens democraticaccent.com in a new tab)
democraticaccent.com — is democraticaccent.com biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Pro-life group ramps up NC ground game as report finds fed abortion message gives GOP candidate biggest boost (opens Fox News in a new tab)
Not rated
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
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