Data on Roe v. Wade
Hello from SurveyMonkey!
For this week's newsletter, we’re doing something a little different. With Monday’s news that the Supreme Court appears poised to overturn its landmark Roe v. Wade decision, we thought we would pull together as much public opinion data as we could find regarding the Supreme Court, abortion, and Roe v. Wade specifically. Today’s newsletter is a round-up of our own polling, along with data from the Washington Post, Fox News, the Pew Research Center, and others.
Majority of Americans want to keep Roe v. Wade in place
Despite the Supreme Court’s draft decision, the polling data are clear — the majority of Americans want to keep Roe v. Wade in place.
According to a recent ABC News/WashingtonPost poll, more than half (54%) of Americans support upholding Roe v. Wade while just 28% want to see it overturned
A Politico/Morning Consult poll conducted following the news of the decision found that voters were almost twice as likely to oppose overturning Roe v. Wade (50% oppose; 28% support)
CNN’s January poll remains consistent with other polls: 30% of Americans want Roe v. Wade completely overturned while 69% are opposed
A 2020 NBC News|SurveyMonkey poll shows 66% say they do not want to see the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling on abortion overturned (29% say they do)
And opinion hasn’t changed much over time. Research from Gallup shows that since 1989, at least half (between 52% and 66%) of U.S. adults have wanted to maintain the landmark abortion decision.
Partisanship divides support on Roe v. Wade
Abortion is often considered a “women’s issue” but according to an NBC News|SurveyMonkey poll partisanship, rather than gender, largely drives opinions on Roe v. Wade. Nearly all Democrats (86%) would not want to see Roe v. Wade overturned while Republicans are split (50% say they want it to be overturned; 47% do not).
Americans support some abortion restrictions
While the majority want to uphold Roe v. Wade, Americans differ on when abortion should be legal. Broadly speaking, six in 10 (59%) Americans say abortion should be legal in all or most cases according to a 2021 Pew Research poll while 39% say it should be illegal in all or most cases.
American’s opinions on abortions vary depending on the circumstances as noted in an ABC|Washington Post poll:
82% say abortion should be legal when the women’s physical health is endangered
79% say abortion should be legal in the case of rape or incest
67% say it should be legal if serious birth defects are present
Americans are divided if the woman cannot afford to have a child (48% say abortion should be legal; 45% illegal)
Almost 6 in 10 (58%) say they’d oppose a law in their state making abortions legal only in the first 6 weeks of pregnancy, or in the first 15 weeks (57%) – similar to the Mississippi law that the Supreme Court is weighing now. Conversely, a Fox News poll of registered voters found the opposite: 54% say they’d be in favor of a 15-week ban on abortions in their state while 41% are opposed.
What’s Next
Should Roe v. Wade be overturned, and left up to the states, almost 6 in 10 (59%) Americans say they’d want their state to have laws that are “more permissive than restrictive” according to a January CNN poll. Just 20% say they’d like to see their state ban abortions completely if Roe v. Wade is overturned while another 20% say they’d like to see their state restrict, but not ban, abortions.
But, the same poll shows Americans have mixed expectations on what might happen to the availability of abortions if the landmark case is overturned:
32% predict abortions in their area would become harder to get
30% aren’t sure how the availability of abortions in their area would be affected
23% say it’s likely abortions would be completely banned in their area
14% say there wouldn’t be a change in the availability of abortions in their area
While it may become an official ruling, the draft opinion is just that — a draft. Research shows that while abortion remains a contentious issue for many Americans, the majority say, “let the decision stand.”
- Brianna Richardson
Check out some of our research data in the news and on our blog:
Inflation fears on Main Street: the latest CNBC|SurveyMonkey Small Business Confidence Index shows inflation remains a top concern. Despite the overall index ticking up two points (from 44 to 46), 8 in 10 small business owners expect a recession to occur this year and few (27%) are confident in the Federal Reserve’s ability to control inflation. Read some of the coverage on CNBC.
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That’s all for this week! Thanks as always for reading.