A Gallup poll released Wednesday found that Americans by a 58%-32% margin do not want to nix the Supreme Court’s landmark 1973 ruling that made abortion a constitutional right.
That is almost identical to the survey findings in 1989 and similar to results to surveys since then, when opposition to overturning Roe V. Wade fluctuated from as high as 66% to as low as 52%.
Over that same time period, support for overturning Roe V. Wade reached as high as 36% in 2002 and as low as 25% in 2006.
The new survey comes roughly a month after the Supreme Court announced that it will hear a case about Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban.
Pro-life advocates hailed the decision, saying it is the legal battle they have been hoping for since former President Donald Trump cemented a 6-3 conservative majority on the high court.
Pro-choice advocates, meanwhile, are concerned that the greatest fears will come to fruition after Justices Neil M. Gorsuch, Brett M. Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett were appointed to the bench on Mr. Trump’s watch.
The case gives the Supreme Court the chance to revisit Roe V. Wade, and is expected to decide whether bans on elective abortion before a fetus is viable, like the Mississippi law, are constitutional.
The Gallup poll also found that 56% of Americans oppose a ban on abortions after 18 weeks of pregnancy and 41% support the idea.
The Gallup poll was conducted May 3-18 among a random sampling of 1,016 adults. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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