(NewsNation) — Despite widespread speculation that the Supreme Court is about to overturn Roe v. Wade, a NewsNation/Decision Desk HQ poll shows that the overwhelmingly majority of Americans want to keep abortion legal in most cases.
In May, a Supreme Court draft opinion leaked that signaled the court would put an end to the 1973 ruling that legalized abortion across America, sparking protests in cities nationwide.
Survey data shows 66% of Americans believe abortion should be legal in most cases, with 28% believing abortion should be legal in all cases.
About 9% of Americans said abortion should be illegal in all cases; 24% said it should be illegal in most cases.
Nearly three in four Americans believe abortion should be allowed in cases of rape or incest or if the pregnancy is a danger to the mother’s health. Fewer, 62%, believed abortion should be allowed in cases where the child’s life is in danger and 40% said abortion should be legal in any other circumstance when a woman doesn’t want to be pregnant.
People ages 18-34 tended to favor abortion being legal in all cases more than any other age group; 38% of young people said abortion should always be legal and an additional 35% said it should be legal in most cases.
People older than 35 still overwhelmingly favored abortion in all or most cases, but were more skeptical than their younger peers in allowing abortions: 36% of adults older than 35 believed abortion should be illegal in most or all cases, compared to 28% of people 34 or younger.
White people were more likely than minority groups to oppose abortion in all or some cases: 36% of white people believed abortion should be illegal in most or all cases, compared to 25% of Asians, 30% of Blacks and 27% of Hispanics.
Kiel Williams, a senior data scientist with Decision Desk, said there is “huge” variance in what people mean when they say “I support abortion” or “I am pro-choice,” showing that there is more nuance to the issue than simply just being for or against it.
