In the aftermath of the Supreme Court's historic decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, more Americans are citing abortion and women's rights as priority issues going forward. In 1973, Roe gave Americans the "constitutional right" to abortion. Now, the issue of abortion is sent back to the states and their elected representatives.
The latest AP/NORC poll surveyed Americans before and after the Supreme Court's ruling was made public. Forty-three percent of interviews were conducted before and 57 percent afterward.
Abortion and women's rights was mentioned as a top issue among 13 percent of those who took the survey before SCOTUS' announcement overturning Roe. The number climbed to 30 percent of those who took the survey after the announcement. However, seven in ten Americans still did not mention abortion or women's rights "as one of their top five priorities."
The numbers were broken down by those who think abortion should be legal or illegal "in all cases." Many believe abortion should be legal in "most" circumstances, but not all.
Just 9% of Americans believe abortion should be illegal in all cases and nearly four times as many (34%) think it should be legal in all cases. Still, that leaves just over half of the country in the middle, with 30% who think it should be legal in most, but not all cases and 24% who think it should be illegal in most cases. Democrats and the religiously unaffiliated are more likely to support legal abortion in all or most cases. Women are also more likely than men to say abortion should be legal in all cases.
The poll found that abortion was mentioned as a top issue among advocates on both sides of the debate – 27% of those who believe abortion should be legal in all cases said abortion issues should be a priority and 22% of those who believe it should be illegal in all cases said the same. However, those who mentioned women’s rights as a top issue almost exclusively believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases.
The poll write-up also pointed out that support for legalizing abortion in all cases increased "significantly" since last year. In June 2021, 23 percent said abortion should be legal in all cases. The figure increased to 32 percent in May and 34 percent in June.
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"The biggest changes are among women and Democrats. There has been no change among men or Republicans," the poll write-up stated.
The poll was conducted from June 23 to June 27, 2022, and surveyed 1,053 adults. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 4.0 percentage points.
