Most Americans want Supreme Court to uphold Roe v Wade, poll shows

In a poll conducted by NPR/PBS/Marist, 77 per cent of American adults said they believed that Roe v Wade, the 1973 ruling that protects the right to an accessible abortion up until foetal viability, should be upheld by the Supreme Court.

Using a sample pool of 944 Americans, the pollsters collected data over a 5 day long period.

The polls findings included the 77 per cent who favoured the protection of Roe v Wade, 61 per cent who support some restrictions on abortion, with 23 per cent believing abortion should be restricted to the first trimester.

A total of 29 per cent of respondents believed abortion should only be permitted in cases of rape, incest, or the health of the pregnant person.

Nine per cent of respondents believe abortion should only be accessible for the life or health of the pregnant person.

However, some respondents supported Roe v Wade being upheld with less restrictions.

A total of 21 per cent who support maintaining Roe v Wade, wanted to expand its parameters to make abortion accessible at any point, for any reason.

Contrarily, 13 pe rcent surveyed wanted to overturn Roe v Wade entirely.

Marist Poll director Barbara Carvalho said the results were indicative of “the fact that the debate is dominated by the extreme positions on both sides”.

Ms Carvalho continued: “People do see the issue as very complicated, very complex. Their positions don’t fall along one side or the other. … The debate is about the extremes, and that’s not where the public is.”