More than half of Americans identify as ‘pro-choice’: poll

More than half of Americans now identify as “pro-choice” when it comes to abortion, according to a new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll released Friday.

The poll found that 57 percent of Americans surveyed said they support abortion rights, while 35 percent said they were against the procedure. A similar poll in January found that 55 percent of Americans considered themselves “pro-choice,” while 38 percent identified as “pro-life.” 

{mosads}Support for legal abortions was highest among Democrats, with 74 percent of respondents saying they supported abortion rights, while 64 percent of Republicans said they were against it. Sixty percent of independents said they identified as “pro-choice.”

The gap between men and women on the issue was slim, the poll found, with 54 percent of men saying they support abortion, compared with 60 percent of women who said the same.

The issue remains a hot-button topic ahead of the 2020 election cycle. More than half — 53 percent — of respondents said they would definitely not vote for a presidential candidate who would put justices on the Supreme Court who would limit or overturn Roe V. Wade, the landmark ruling that legalized abortion.

More than three-quarters of those surveyed, 77 percent, said the Supreme Court should uphold the landmark decision that established a woman’s right to abortion in some form. A strong majority, 61 percent, said they favored a combination of limitations on abortion.

The poll also comes as a series of GOP-led legislatures a number of states, including Georgia, Missouri and Alabama, have enacted laws sharply restricting abortion access. The laws were designed to challenge the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade ruling.

The NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll surveyed 944 adults nationally between May 31 and June 4. It has a margin of error of 4.5 percentage points.