New Gallup poll: Majority of Americans opposed to overturning Roe v Wade

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – A new Gallup poll shows that 58% of Americans are opposed to overturning Roe v Wade, the landmark 1973 US Supreme Court decision on abortion, Gallup reports. Carried out between May 3-18, the poll found 32% of Americans are in favor of overturning the ruling.

Asserting that women have a “fundamental” right to an abortion, but acknowledging that states have an interest in protecting maternal and prenatal life, the Supreme Court ruled in Roe v Wade that states may regulate abortion before fetal viability to protect the mother’s health, but may not ban the procedure prior to 24-28 weeks gestation.

A number of Republican states, including Mississippi, have recently passed laws against abortion to test the tenacity of the Roe v Wade ruling: as a result, the Supreme Court has now agreed to hear a case on a Mississippi law that bans abortion after 15 weeks gestation.

According to Gallup, the level of support for Roe v Wade has remained largely unchanged in the last 30 years. “In 1989, between 52% and 66% of U.S. adults have wanted to maintain the landmark abortion decision,” Gallup said. “Today’s support roughly matches the average over that three-decade period.”

While Democrat voters have generally strongly supported the concept of abortion rights, Republican voters have been more strongly opposed to the idea. Gauging GOP support for overturning Roe, Gallup found that 43% of Republicans are opposed to overturning the ruling, while 46% are in favor.

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