As the Supreme Court has not one, but two major abortion cases on its docket, a majority of Americans support keeping the landmark 1973 ruling in Roe v. Wade, which guarantees a woman’s right to an abortion, intact. 

What You Need To Know

  • By a two-to-one margin, Americans support the nation’s highest court upholding the Roe v. Wade decision, according to a recent ABC News-Washington Post poll

  • The survey comes as the Supreme Court is set to hear arguments over a Mississippi law which bans most abortions after 15 weeks on Dec. 1, and weeks after the court heard arguments against Texas' restrictive abortion law

  • Sixty-five percent of respondents said that the Supreme Court should strike down Texas' restrictive law which bans most abortions at 6 weeks

  • The poll also finds that Americans believe by a wide margin, 75-20, that decisions on abortions should be made by a woman and their doctor, rather than be regulated by law

By a two-to-one margin, Americans support the nation’s highest court upholding the Roe v. Wade decision, according to a recent ABC News-Washington Post poll. Sixty percent of Americans support the decision, with just 27% believing the court should overturn it.

That figure includes majority support from men and women, young adults and seniors, those with college degrees and without, and broadly across the racial, religious and ethnic spectrum — including 62% of Catholics — according to the poll results.

The survey comes as the Supreme Court is set to hear arguments over a Mississippi law which bans most abortions after 15 weeks on Dec. 1. In the case, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the state of Mississippi directly asks the court to overturn Roe v. Wade, as well as the 1992 decision in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which affirmed the decision in Roe.

Fifty-eight percent of respondents also opposed state legislation which makes it harder for abortion clinics to operate, which comes weeks after the high court heard arguments in cases related to Texas’ restrictive abortion law. Forty-five percent of those who responded oppose them “strongly.”

Texas’ law, also known as S.B.8, bans most abortions after six weeks and empowers private citizens to file lawsuits against abortion providers and anyone who “aids or abets” someone getting an abortion.

Specifically, a whopping 65% of those surveyed say the Supreme Court should overturn Texas’ controversial law, compared to just 29% who say it should be upheld.

The poll also finds that Americans believe by a wide margin, 75-20, that decisions on abortions should be made by a woman and their doctor, rather than be regulated by law. Again, that sentiment was shared by those across the political spectrum, including even a majority of Republicans, and about 8 in 10 women and 7 in 10 men.