Nearly seven in ten Americans believe the landmark Roe v Wade decision should stand, according to a new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll. This is the highest level of support for the controversial ruling since polls began keeping track in 1989. “The shift is mostly the result of more Democrats backing the decision-particularly Hispanics and African-Americans-and a slight uptick in support from Republicans,” Louise Randofsky and Ashby Jones write.
However, almost seven in 10 respondents say there are at least some circumstances in which they don’t support abortion. Some 31% of respondents in the poll said abortion should always be legal, and 9% believed it should be illegal without any exceptions. Between those two opinions are the 23% who thought it should be legal most of the time, but with some exceptions, and the 35% who felt it should be illegal except in circumstances of rape, incest and to save a woman’s life.
