Few US adults support full abortion bans, says AP-NORC

The majority of US adults, including those living in states with harsh limits on abortion, want it to be legal at least through the initial stages of pregnancy, a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds.

The poll was conducted in late June, one year after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, undoing a nationwide right to abortion that had been in place for nearly 50 years.
While the laws have changed over the past year, the poll found that opinions on abortion remain much as they were a year ago: complex, with most people believing abortion should be allowed in some circumstances and not in others.

Overall, about two-thirds of Americans say abortion should generally be legal, but only about a quarter say it should always be legal and only about 1 in 10 say it should always be illegal.

By 24 weeks of pregnancy, most Americans think their state should generally not allow abortions.

The poll finds that 1 in 10 Americans say they know someone who has either been unable to get an abortion or who has had to travel to get one in the last year, since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade – and that this is especially common among young people, people of colour and those living in states where abortion is banned at all stages of pregnancy.

Nearly half the states now allow abortion until between 20 and 27 weeks, but bar it later than that in most cases. Before the fall of Roe, almost every state fell in that range. Now, abortion is banned — with varying exceptions — at all stages of pregnancy in 14 states, including much of the South.

The poll found that 73 per cent of all US adults, including 58 per cent of those in states with the deepest bans, believe abortion should be allowed at six weeks of pregnancy.