FILE-Abortion rights activists are chanting and showing signs when abortion rights activists are protesting in front of the US Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. on June 24, 2024. (Photo by AASHISH KIPHAYET/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)
A new poll reveals that most Americans believe abortion should be legal even after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, which has opened the door for state abortion bans, according to a recent Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll.
Over 60% of Americans support legal abortion
Why you should care:
Sixty-four percent of Americans support legal abortion in most cases. And over half the adults in states with the strictest abortion bans are in that category. Half of respondents in the poll say abortion should be accessible in their state when a person doesn’t want to continue their pregnancy for any reason.
RELATED: One year without Roe v. Wade: Here's where abortion laws stand in your state
And the poll also noted that Democrats support abortion access far more than Republicans do. Support for legal abortion has fallen among members of both political parties since June 2024, but almost 9 in 10 Democrats and about 4 in 10 Republicans admit abortions should be legal in at least most instances.
Support still high for legal abortion in some circumstances
Dig deeper:
Approximately 8 in 10 Americans say their state should allow legal abortion if a fetal anomaly would prevent the child from surviving outside the womb, if the person’s health is endangered by the pregnancy, or if the person became pregnant as a result of rape or incest, the AP-NORC poll noted.
RELATED: Nearly as many abortions happening in US every month as before Roe v. Wade was overturned: Report
Meanwhile, about 7 in 10 people "strongly" or "somewhat" support protecting access to abortions for patients who are experiencing miscarriages or other pregnancy-related emergencies.
Some Americans support protections for seeking abortions across state lines
Local perspective:
Respondents in the poll were split on whether states that allow abortion should protect access for women who live in areas with bans. A little over 50% say they favor protecting a person’s right to obtain an abortion in another state and protecting those who provide abortions from fines or jail time. The poll noted that about 2 in 10 oppose the measures and roughly 1 in 4 are neutral.
More people also support legal protections for doctors who prescribe and mail abortion pills to people in states with bans. Roughly 4 in 10 "somewhat" or "strongly" favor those protections, and roughly 3 in 10 oppose them.
Data for the AP-NORC poll consisted of 1,437 Americans and was conducted between July 10-14, using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population.
The Source: Information for this story was provided by an AP-NORC poll consisting of 1,437 Americans and was conducted between July 10-14, using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. This story was reported from Washington, D.C.