Poll: Majority of public doesn’t want Roe v. Wade overturned

The majority of the U.S. public does not want the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision that established a constitutional right to abortion, according to a poll released Friday. 

Sixty-seven percent of respondents said they don’t want the court to overturn the 1973 decision, while 29 percent said they do, according to a survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation. 

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The poll was conducted before Justice Anthony Kennedy’s announcement Wednesday that he would be stepping down from the bench, effective July 31, after 30 years on the Supreme Court. President Trump has vowed to nominate a “pro-life” justice who would overturn Roe v. Wade.

Among Republicans, 53 percent of poll respondents said they would like to see the decision overturned, while 81 percent of Democrats and 73 percent of independents said they wouldn’t.

Sixty-eight percent of women and 65 percent of men said they want the decision to remain the law of the land.

Respondents were also asked about how a candidate’s position on access to abortion would affect their vote at the polls.

Both abortion-rights and anti-abortion groups are looking to make the issue a decisive one in the November midterms.

Forty-percent of adults said they are more likely to vote for a candidate who supports access to abortion services, while 30 percent said a candidate who supports abortion restrictions is more likely to get their vote.

Among Democrats, 72 percent said they are more likely to back a candidate who supports access to abortion, while 58 percent of Republicans said the same about a candidate who wants restrictions on abortions.

Fifty-seven percent of overall respondents said they oppose the Trump administration’s proposed restrictions on the federal family planning program, intended to block Planned Parenthood from receiving funding. Thirty-eight percent said they are in favor of that approach.

The poll was conducted by phone June 11-20 among a nationally representative sample of 1,492 adults. The survey has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.