Majority of Americans Continue to Say Abortion Should Be Legal in All or Most Cases
In recent years, the public has become more likely to say obtaining an abortion in their area would be difficult.
Abortion
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Most Latinos Say Democrats Care About Them and Work Hard for Their Vote, Far Fewer Say So of GOP
Abortion has risen as an election issue for Latinos, with a majority saying it should be legal in all or most cases. Meanwhile, 80% say the economy is a very important issue when deciding who to vote for in the upcoming congressional midterm elections, a greater share than any other issue.
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Positive Views of Supreme Court Decline Sharply Following Abortion Ruling
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%).
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Abortion Rises in Importance as a Voting Issue, Driven by Democrats
While the economy remains the dominant issue in this fall’s midterm elections, the issue of abortion has increased markedly in importance. More voters continue to view their midterm vote as an expression of opposition to Joe Biden than support for him. But across both parties, more voters now say Biden is not much of a factor in their vote.
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India’s Sex Ratio at Birth Begins To Normalize
India’s artificially wide ratio of baby boys to baby girls – which arose in the 1970s from the use of prenatal diagnostic technology to facilitate sex-selective abortions – now appears to be narrowing. Son bias has declined sharply among Sikhs, while Christians continue to have a natural balance of sons and daughters.
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Key facts about the abortion debate in America
As the nation’s post-Roe chapter begins and the legal battle shifts to the states, here are key facts about Americans’ views on abortion.
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Majority of Public Disapproves of Supreme Court’s Decision To Overturn Roe v. Wade
Opinion on the legality of abortion has changed little since before the court’s decision, with 62% now saying abortion should be legal in all or most cases.
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Americans differ by party, age over ways to reduce the number of abortions in the U.S.
U.S. adults disagree over whether legal restrictions on abortion are an effective way to reduce the number of abortions in the U.S.
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Like Americans overall, Catholics vary in their abortion views, with regular Mass attenders most opposed
About three-quarters of U.S. Catholics (76%) say abortion should be illegal in some cases but legal in others.
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Wide partisan gaps in abortion attitudes, but opinions in both parties are complicated
Public attitudes about the legality of abortion are largely divided along partisan lines – and to a greater extent than in past decades.
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America’s Abortion Quandary
A majority of Americans say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, but many are open to restrictions; many opponents of legal abortion say it should be legal in some circumstances.
