BREAKING POLL: Voters Want Supreme Court to ‘Support Abortion Rights’ By 2 to 1 Margin in Survey Taken After Roe Draft Leaked
David Ryder/Getty Images
Americans overwhelmingly want the Supreme Court to “support abortion rights” according to a poll taken after the leak of a SCOTUS opinion overturning Roe v. Wade.
The draft Supreme Court decision that was leaked to Politico Monday night — which would overturn the right to abortion if it goes into effect — has rocked the news cycle and American politics, and according to a new Politico/Morning Consult poll taken after news of the leak broke, Americans are firmly against the court’s apparent move.
Some highlights of the poll, via Playbook:
- Fifty-seven percent of voters want SCOTUS to support abortion rights, 28% hope it opposes them, and 15% don’t know or have no opinion. Net support: +29
- Fifty-six percent of voters believe abortion should be legal in “most” or “all cases.” Twenty-five percent of voters said they think abortion should be legal in all cases, 31% said legal in most cases, 24% said illegal in most cases, 11% said illegal in all cases, and 9% either don’t know or had no opinion. Net support: +21
Voters also say they’re ready to back major reforms of the judiciary:
- Term limits for justices: Sixty-six percent strongly or somewhat approve; 21% strongly or somewhat disapprove. Net approval: +45
- Placing an age cap on justices: Sixty-four percent approve; 22% disapprove. Net approval: +42
- Binding justices to a code of ethics: Seventy-three percent approve; 11% disapprove. Net approval: +62
- Balancing the court with equal numbers of Democrats, Republicans and independents: Fifty-seven percent approve; 28% disapprove. Net approval: +29
- Expanding the number of justices on the court: Fifty-five percent approve; 36% disapprove. Net approval: +19
Even among Republicans, only a slim majority — 51 percent — said they hope the Court opposes abortion rights.
The open political question will be how these sentiments translate to votes, if at all. If this poll is to be believed, this could help Democrats quite a bit.
Respondents to the poll were asked “Thinking about the November 2022 midterm elections for U.S. Congress, how important, if at all, would you say it is to vote for a candidate in the midterm elections who: Supports the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision of 1973?”
Among all respondents, 57 percent said it was “Very important” (38%) or “Somewhat important” (19%) for their candidate to support Roe. Even among Republicans, a sizable 42 percent chunk said they wanted to vote for a candidate who supports Roe v. Wade.
Respondents to the poll were also asked “Thinking about the November 2022 midterm elections for U.S. Congress, how important, if at all, would you say it is to vote for a candidate in the midterm elections who: Opposes the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision of 1973?”
Among all respondents, 41 percent said it was “Very important” (24%) or “Somewhat important” (17%) for their candidate to oppose Roe. Time will tell how much that factors into actual voting-booth decisions.
