By more than two-to-one, Americans say medication abortion should be legal in their state
A majority of Americans say medication abortion should be legal, but there is a stark divide by age, religion and party affiliation.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
A majority of Americans say medication abortion should be legal, but there is a stark divide by age, religion and party affiliation.
Americans’ ratings of the Supreme Court are now as negative as – and more politically polarized than – at any point in more than three decades of polling. And nearly two-thirds of Democrats (64%) now say the Supreme Court has too much power, almost three times the share who said this in August 2020 (23%).
In states where abortion is prohibited, the share of people who say access to abortion should be easier has increased since August 2019. A majority of residents in those states say it would be difficult to get an abortion in the area where they live today, up 21 points from four years ago.
Pew Research Center’s political typology provides a roadmap to today’s fractured political landscape. It organizes the public into nine distinct groups, based on an analysis of their attitudes and values. Even in a polarized era, the 2021 survey reveals deep divisions in both partisan coalitions.
Nearly eight-in-ten U.S. adults (78%) say there is some risk an innocent person will be put to death, and 63% say the death penalty does not deter people from committing serious crimes.
Republican support for allowing undocumented immigrants to remain legally in the United States has declined.
While a few proposals continue to garner bipartisan support, partisan divisions on others – including a ban on assault-style weapons – have grown wider.
The share of adults who are “basically content” with the federal government has risen to the highest point since 2004, driven by Democrats.
While declining shares give police forces positive marks for their use of force, treatment of racial groups and officer accountability, there is little support for cuts in spending on local policing.
Democrats are largely united in backing a $15 an hour federal minimum wage. Republican opinion on this issue is more divided.
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