A year after the abolition of the constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy, the U.S. Supreme Court's decision and the restrictions enacted by several states appear to have only strengthened support for women's suffrage.
According to a Gallup poll, the percentage of Americans who support the right to terminate a pregnancy in the first trimester has reached 69%, a record since the issue began to be examined in polls. The percentage of those supporting permission to terminate a pregnancy in the second and final trimesters also peaked at 37% and 22%, respectively. 34% believe abortion should be permitted in all cases and circumstances – one percentage point less than last year, but 7% higher than the average of 27% since measurements began in 1975.
Supporters of the right to abortion demonstrate in New York, last year, Photo: Reuters
The response to the morality of termination of pregnancy has also changed. Traditionally, 47% said the action was moral and an equal or greater proportion thought the opposite. After Dobbs's draft against the Jackson Women's Health Organization — the case that overturned the constitutional right to an abortion and effectively overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling — the authors reversed, and since 2022 the rate of those who think the decision to terminate a pregnancy morally stands at 52% — while the camp of those who think it is an injustice has shrunk to 38%.
Anti-abortion protesters protest in front of the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., last year,
The Supreme Court's decision last June sent the issue of abortion back to state legislatures, triggering a wave of bans. Currently, abortion is banned in 14 states, while in Georgia it is only allowed for up to 6 weeks. Another poll, also by Gallup, found that a record 69% of Americans are dissatisfied with abortion laws. 46% would prefer the rules to become less strict – a 16% jump since January 2022.
Women in the recovery room after surgery, this year in Illinois, Photo: Reuters
These figures are especially significant ahead of next year's presidential election — not just because the issue of abortion has been fraught in both camps, but because it has become a litmus test for support. A Gallup poll released this week found that 28% of Americans believe the candidate should hold positions that match their own on the issue. This is a record rate. The congruence between the candidate's and voters' positions is more pronounced in the Pro Choice camp than in the Pro Life camp. The sociological groups most committed to choosing a pro-abortion candidate are young Democrats, women ages 18-49, and African-American adults.
"This is a paradigm shift," Lydia Saad, Gallup's director of social research, told The New York Times. "There's still a lot of ambivalence, there's a lot of people with polarized views. But there is also much more support for abortion rights than in the past, and it looks like the trend will continue."
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