A record 59% of Americans surveyed believe abortion should be legal, according to a new report. A FOX News poll was released on Wednesday.The move comes as the Supreme Court debates whether abortion pills should be outlawed and Republican politicians consider support for a nationwide abortion ban.
Support for abortion rights has increased by double digits since early 2022, just before the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision that eliminated federal protections for abortion procedures. The Dobbs decision created a cascading effect of abortion restrictions in Republican-controlled states across the country and sparked a new wave of abortion rights activism.
The 59% figure was a significant increase from the all-time low of 44% set in April 2022 in a similar Fox News poll.
Support for legalizing abortion in all or most circumstances is growing across all demographics, including those considered most critical of abortion rights. That includes a 16% increase among people 65 and older, a 12% increase among conservatives, an 11% increase among registered Republicans, and a 10% increase among white evangelical Christians.
The poll found that about five times as many people say abortion should always be legal (35%) as say it should never be legal (7%).
Both Republicans and Democrats have made abortion a political rallying point, with President Biden and Democrats vowing to restore pre-Dobbs protections, while Republicans are considering further restrictions.
Former President Trump has not said whether he supports a nationwide abortion ban, but he has signaled support for the measure in recent weeks. A majority of his Republican primary rivals said they supported a 15-week abortion ban, an unpopular policy that polls show.
A Fox News poll on Thursday found that a majority of Americans surveyed (54%) oppose a 15-week ban, while 43% support it. This is a complete reversal from last year’s results, when the ban was supported by a 12-point margin.
Pollster Daron Shaw, a Republican, said the results signaled rare movement on the issue and could give Democrats a boost.
“Sometimes you have to be careful what you wish for,” Shaw told Fox News. “Opinions on abortion are hard to change, but they have shifted slightly to the left over the past two years. Whatever the substantive legal and policy merits of the court’s decision in Dobbs, overturning Roe is a bleak It gave Democrats a rallying point in an issue environment.”
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