This month, several pressing issues have been at the forefront of the news cycle following the Biden administration's weeks-long disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan. Abortion took center stage as Texas enacted the strictest abortion law the country has seen in decades, with the Supreme Court deciding not to block the legislation. President Biden announced new vaccine mandates requiring approximately 80 million Americans to get vaccinated against the Wuhan coronavirus. But a new poll, published on Wednesday, shows how Americans feel regarding these issues – the Supreme Court, abortion restrictions, and vaccine mandates for workers.
In a poll conducted by Quinnipiac University, 37 percent of respondents approve of the way the Supreme Court handles its job while 49 percent disapprove. The remaining 14 percent did not offer an opinion. Roughly one-third, 34 percent, of respondents think the Supreme Court is "too conservative" while 19 percent think the Supreme Court is "too liberal." Out of registered voters, the Court receives a negative 37-50 percent approval rating.
"This is the worst job approval since Quinnipiac University began asking the question in 2004, and a steep drop from July 2020, when registered voters approved 52 - 37 percent," the poll write-up reads. This approval rating follows the Supreme Court voting 5-4 to allow the enactment of S.B. 8, the new "heartbeat" law in Texas banning abortion once fetal cardiac activity has been detected.
In the wake of Texas' new "heartbeat" law, respondents in the poll were also asked their opinions on the legality of abortion. Thirty-one percent of respondents surveyed said abortion should be legal in all cases. An additional 31 percent said abortion should be legal in most cases. On the contrary, 32 percent said abortion should be illegal in most cases. Eleven percent said abortion should be illegal across the board.
"More than 4 in 10 Americans (43 percent) say that Congress should pass a law to protect access to abortion in the United States, while 11 percent say Congress should pass a law to restrict access to abortion in the United States and 41 percent say Congress should do neither and leave access to abortion up to the states," the write-up states.
One more hot-button issue the poll covered is mandated Wuhan coronavirus vaccines. The numbers are broken down as follows.
"Healthcare workers, 57 percent support while 40 percent oppose;
Federal government employees and contractors, 53 percent support while 45 percent oppose;
Employees of businesses, 50 percent support while 49 percent oppose;
Students at universities, 50 percent support while 48 percent oppose;
Students age 12 and over, 48 percent support while 49 percent oppose."
These results come on the heels of Biden's announcement of a slew of new vaccine mandates that require federal workers and businesses with 100 or more employees to require workers to be fully vaccinated or face regular testing.
According to the poll, 1,210 American adults nationwide were surveyed from September 10 - 13 with a margin of error of +/- 2.8 percentage points.
