A majority of Americans say they support keeping abortion legal in the United States, with most describing themselves as “pro-choice,” a new poll has found.
The findings may indicate that abortion will be a critical issue in this year’s midterm races.
Gallup has been measuring Americans’ attitudes on abortion rights for decades. In their latest poll released this week, 55 percent of respondents said that they were “pro-choice” on the issue of abortion — that is, supportive of the federal government recognizing and protecting the right to get an abortion. That’s the highest rate that Gallup has recorded since the mid-1990s, when around 56 percent of respondents described themselves as pro-choice.
Only 39% of respondents said they had anti-abortion views. That number has dropped significantly from last year’s Gallup poll, which found that 47 percent of Americans were against abortion.
35 percent of the participants in the recent poll said that abortion should always be legal. Another 18 percent said it should under all circumstances. Only 32% said abortion should be legal in certain cases. Only 13% said it should be illegal in all cases.
This is a decrease from the 19% who said that abortion should not be allowed a year ago.
“The prospect of the Supreme Court overturning the case that established women’s right to seek an abortion has clearly jolted a segment of Americans into identifying with the pro-choice side of the issue and expressing more unequivocal support for abortion being legal,” Gallup’s report on its findings said.
These numbers may also indicate that abortion restrictions are being implemented across the country in several states (and as) these latest numbers could also indicate. The Supreme Court prepares to overturn almost 50 years of precedentOn the matter, Americans are still supportive of keeping the right for abortion intact.
A separate poll from Marquette University Law School published last week found that voters believe abortion is “one of the most important issues” right now, indicating that it could play a huge role in this year’s midterm races. 48% of Democratic voters viewed abortion as one of the most important issues. Only 31% of Republican voters agreed.
