Americans Still Oppose Overturning Roe v. Wade

R&I – FS

  • Nearly six in 10 Americans do not want Roe v. Wade overturned
  • Republicans are closely split on reversing the landmark decision
  • Bans on early-term abortions fall short of U.S. public support.

Gallup’s latest update on U.S. abortion attitudes finds 58% of Americans opposed to overturning the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, while 32% are in favor. Since 1989, between 52% and 66% of U.S. adults have wanted to maintain the landmark abortion decision. Today’s support roughly matches the average over that three-decade period.

  • Fifty-six percent are opposed to banning abortions after the 18th week of pregnancy, a threshold used in laws passed in two states (Arkansas and Utah), although both laws are currently blocked by court orders.
  • Fifty-eight percent oppose banning abortions once the heartbeat of a fetus can be detected — an abortion restriction passed in several Republican-led states, all of which face court challenges. A fetal heartbeat can typically be detected between six and eight weeks into a pregnancy. While that time frame wasn’t specified in the latest Gallup measure, it was in a 2019 question, with similar results.

Additionally, the poll finds a majority of Americans — 57% — opposed to generally banning abortion if performed because the fetus is found to have a genetic disease or disorder. Arizona’s governor recently signed such a bill into law, outlawing abortions conducted exclusively because of nonlethal genetic conditions such as Down syndrome and cystic fibrosis.

 

 

PragDem

Article URL : https://news.gallup.com/poll/350804/americans-opposed-overturning-roe-wade.aspx