Democrats in states where the right to abortion is enshrined in law are bracing for a wave of legal attacks and other maneuvers seeking to undermine access, including from other states. NBC New York’s Erica Byfield reports.
Despite signs it is about to be reversed, strong majorities of Americans support preserving Roe vs. Wade, as well as the concept of legal abortion itself, according to a new poll released Wednesday.
Some 57% of people believe Roe should stand, and 64% believe abortion should be unreservedly legal or legal with some limitations, a Monmouth University poll found. (The poll was conducted after a draft Supreme Court opinion overturning Roe vs. Wade leaked earlier this month.)
A majority of every single demographic in the poll - by gender, age, family status, race, college education, income, and red state/blue state split - said they supported preserving both abortion generally and Roe vs. Wade specifically.
Just 8% of respondents said abortion should always be illegal, even in cases of rape, incest or where the mother's life was in danger. That's down from the last two times Monmouth polled the question, last September and the summer of 2019.
| View on Abortion | Male | Female |
| Always legal | 26 | 39 |
| Legal w/limitations | 36 | 27 |
| Illegal with rape/incest/mother's life exceptions | 27 | 25 |
| Always illegal | 8 | 8 |
But respondents were split on the question of what comes next if the high court does strike down Roe -- 44% said Congress should legalize abortion nationwide, while 43% said the choice should be left to the states.
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The telephone poll of 807 adults was conducted May 5-9, and has a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.
