54 percent in new poll say abortion should be legal in ‘all or most cases’

Fifty-four percent of Americans believe that abortion should be legal in all or most cases, according to a recent NBC poll.

The poll found significant majorities in a number of demographics that favor of abortion being legal, including women at 59 percent, whites with college degrees at 60 percent, Latinos at 63 percent, Americans between the ages of 18-34 at 65 percent, and those living in urban areas at 65 percent. 

Groups that came down significantly on the side of making abortion illegal included evangelicals at 70 percent, those living in rural areas at 63 percent and Southerners at 52 percent.

NBC notes that the numbers showed that most of the country appears to be in the middle on the issue of abortion, with 23 percent of Americans saying the procedure should be legal “most of the time,” and 34 percent saying it should be illegal “with exceptions.” Comparatively, 31 percent said abortion should always be legal, and 8 percent said it should always be illegal. 

NBC’s poll comes as a Texas law banning virtually all abortions after a heartbeat is detected went into effect at midnight Wednesday after the Supreme Court did not move to block it. The legislation, referred to as a “fetal heartbeat bill,” allows most private citizens to file lawsuits against abortion providers if they have a suspicion that the provider infringed on the new policy.

It remains unclear if the Supreme Court will overturn Roe v. Wade heading into the 2022 and 2024 elections, but there is a question of how legislation restricting abortion will affect Republicans in states like Georgia, Florida and Texas, where Democrats have gained ground in the last few years, NBC notes.