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One year after overturning of Roe v. Wade, polls show elevated support for abortion rights among Americans

The U.S. Supreme Court building is shown Wednesday, May 4, 2022 in Washington. A draft opinion suggests the U.S. Supreme Court could be poised to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade case that legalized abortion nationwide, according to a Politico report released Monday. Whatever the outcome, the Politico report represents an extremely rare breach of the court's secretive deliberation process, and on a case of surpassing importance. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) (Alex Brandon, Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

June 24 marks the one year anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court overturning the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.

Polling done by both NBC News and Gallup shows a majority of Americans disapprove of the ruling.

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According to polling done by NBC News, 61% of voters said they disapprove of the 5-4 ruling, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. The ruling leaves the legality and condition of abortion up to the states. That includes 53% of those voters who said they strongly disapprove of the decision.

In the poll, 36% of voters said they approved of the decision with 27% of those saying they strongly approve.

In terms of access to abortion, the NBC News poll found 22% of registered voters said abortion access has become too difficult in their state, 17% said it’s too easy and 43% said their state has struck the right balance.

Similarly, Gallup polling finds 51% of voters believe abortion should be legal in certain circumstances. 34% said abortion should be legal in any circumstance. Only 13% of voters believed abortion should be illegal in any circumstance.

Americans' Preference on Legality of Abortion (Gallup)

Breaking it down further, the Gallup poll finds that Americans believe that abortion should be legal in only a few circumstances or illegal in all circumstances has risen from 45% last year to 49% this year. The polling also found support that abortion should be legal in any or most circumstances has dropped slightly from 53% to 47% in a year.

Americans Detailed Views on Legality of Abortion (Gallup)

By time of pregnancy, the Gallup poll found that 69% of voters believe abortion should be legal in the first three months of pregnancy. That number drops to 37% in the second three months of pregnancy and drops further to 22% in the last three months of pregnancy. Gallup also broke down this number down further by gender, age, and political party of voters.

Americans' Support for Abortion by Stage of Pregnancy by Subgroup (Gallup)

The Gallup poll also shows the number of people who self-identify as Pro-choice still slightly outnumber those who self-identify as Pro-life, though the number of those who self-identify as Pro-choice has declined from 55% this time last year to 52% this year. Those who self-identify as Pro-life also slightly increased from 39% this time last year to 44% this year.

Americans' Self-Identification on Abortion Issue (Gallup)

You can view the full results of the Gallup poll here.


About the Author

Christian Terry covered digital news in Tyler and Wichita Falls before returning to the Houston area where he grew up. He is passionate about weather and the outdoors and often spends his days off on the water fishing.

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