Poll Claims Americans Oppose Overturning Roe v. Wade Abortion Decision 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
November 29, 2004
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — A new poll sponsored by the Associated Press claims that a majority of Americans are opposed to overturning the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion. But that poll doesn’t fit with others showing most Americans taking a pro-life position.
The survey, conducted by Ipsos-Public Affairs, found that 59 percent said President Bush should pick a Supreme Court nominee who would uphold the 1973 landmark case. Some 31 percent want Bush to pick a new justice who would overturn Roe and 10 percent were unsure.
However, the poll is coming under fire for telling those surveyed that Roe only legalized abortion in the first three months. The Roe v. Wade decision and its companion, the Doe v. Bolton case, allowed legal abortions throughout all nine months of pregnancy and for virtually any reason.
The AP poll found support for Supreme Court nominees who oppose reversing the pro-abortion decision among almost all various age, socioeconomic and racial groups.
According to the poll, Republicans, evangelical Christians and those over the age of 65 were most likely to say they favor Bush picking a pro-life judicial nominee who favored overturning Roe.
The results of the AP poll stand in stark contrast to others that have surveyed the attitude of Americans on the issue of abortion.
A Wirthlin Worldwide post-election poll of voters showed that a majority of Americans are pro-life and the abortion issue gave pro-life candidates such as President Bush a twelve percent advantage.
Some 42 percent of voters said that the issue of abortion affected the way they voted in the election.
Those voters favored pro-life candidates by nearly a two-one margin with 25 percent of all voters saying they voted for pro-life candidates who oppose abortion and only 13 percent of all voters saying they backed candidates that favor abortion.
Thinking about their own position on abortion, 55 percent said they took a pro-life position and only 40 percent took one of three positions in favor of legal abortions.
Meanwhile, the AP-Ipsos poll also found that 61 percent of Americans, regardless of their views on overturning Roe, want potential Supreme Court justices to state their opinion on abortion prior to confirmation by the Senate.
Some 52 percent felt strongly that abortion views should be discussed beforehand.
Only 36 percent said a potential high court nominee should not disclose a view on abortion prior to being approved.
A recent CBS-New York Times poll found that 64 percent of those polled said they thought Bush would appoint pro-life judges who favor making abortion illegal.
The AP-Ipsos poll surveyed 1,000 adults, including 853 registered voters, was taken November 19-21, and has a 3 percentage point margin of error.
