Two new, independently conducted surveys spell trouble for those seeking to legalize the sale of imported foreign prescription drugs in the United States.

Proponents often frame the issue in terms of importing drugs from Canada — a smart tactic, considering that, in both the surveys we just completed, 65-69 percent of Americans support importing medicines from our neighbor to the north.

What importation advocates usually don’t say, however, is that their proposals reach far beyond Canada — across the globe, in fact, permitting medicines to be imported from upwards of 25 different countries, from Asia to Europe and many places in between.

In a survey by The Polling Co., 800 Americans were asked how they felt about imports from those countries as well. In contrast to the 69 percent who favor imports from Canada, only 31 percent support importation of medicines from European Union countries such as Estonia, Latvia and Malta.

A Luntz Research Cos. poll confirmed the findings. Its survey of 600 seniors found that 65 percent support drug imports from Canada but only 19 percent favor allowing Americans to purchase drugs from 20 other foreign countries. Fully 71 percent oppose imports from the non-Canadian countries, 56 percent of them strongly so.

The Polling Co. survey showed that opposition to Asian and European drug imports extends to virtually every demographic cluster, both sexes, every region and every political orientation. When it comes to importing medicines from Asia and Europe, Americans speak as one — with a big, loud “No.”

Two groups in particular are noticeably doubtful about imports, however, and this could be the worst news of all for proponents of the legislation.

In healthcare questions, women and seniors are “gatekeepers.” They’re the ones most likely to be personally invested in the issue. Seniors are generally the largest consumers of healthcare, and women generally make the healthcare decisions in most families. It’s very hard to gain a meaningful consensus on healthcare issues without the support of women and senior citizens.

Perhaps because seniors are the most vulnerable to counterfeit or adulterated drugs (their systems are simply less able to handle them), they are the least likely age group to support bringing foreign drugs into the United States — regardless of the source.

Women, too, are less likely than men to support legalizing imports from any nation, Canada included.

Advocates of drug imports have been less than forthcoming as well about the extent to which imports will penetrate the drug supply. To hear them tell it, only those who actively seek out imported medicines will get them. They say the rest of us have nothing to worry about because we wouldn’t be affected by the importation schemes.

But the legislation doesn’t require wholesalers and pharmacists to label imported medicines; doctors and patients are actually forbidden from opting out of imports. In other words, if imports are allowed, they’ll affect everyone, and nobody will be able to say, with certainty, where a given medicine originated. Once Americans are made aware of this, 69 percent oppose the measure, according to the Luntz survey.

What’s worse, for supporters of drug imports, is that many of those initially inclined to support importation of medicines even from Canada change their minds when they become aware that the Canadian equivalent to our Food and Drug Administration has strongly advised Americans against importing Canadian medicines because they can’t guarantee the safety of the drugs; 51 percent oppose imports from Canada under these circumstances, compared to the 65 percent or 69 percent who supported Canadian imports initially.

Similarly, once respondents learn that the Canadian health minister has indicated his refusal to participate in an import plan even if one is passed by Congress, the number of Americans supporting imports — even from Canada — goes down even further, to just 28 percent.

Together, these two surveys indicate that those seeking to open our borders and medicine cabinets to foreign medicines have some serious obstacles in front of them.

First, they haven’t been honest about the full extent of their plan, that they would open the United States to drug imports not just from Canada but from upwards of 25 foreign countries in all. When Americans consider the risks of imports from such a wide array of nations, they sour on the idea of importation at all.

Second, the group with supposedly the most at stake in reducing drug prices — senior citizens — is the group most likely to oppose it.

Third, women — who traditionally constitute the majority of voters who decide on the basis of health-related issues — are less supportive than men.

Finally, when it comes even to a limited importation scheme involving just drugs from Canada, the proponents still lose a majority of Americans once respondents learn that the Canadian government can’t guarantee the safety of these medicines and refuses to participate in a regimen to do so.

Kellyanne Fitzpatrick Conway is president and CEO of The Polling Co.