Poll: Samuel Alito Favored, Don’t Want Him to Overturn Abortion 
Email this article
Printer friendly page
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
November 2, 2005
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — Gallup has released the results of its first poll of Americans on their reactions to the nomination of Samuel Alito to replace retiring pro-abortion Justice Sandra Day O’Connor on the Supreme Court. The poll finds a plurality think Alito’s nomination is good but they don’t want him to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Slightly more Americans rate Alito’s selection either excellent or good (43%) as rate it fair or poor (39%). Those results are similar to the ones for Harriet Miers but John Roberts’ rating was somewhat more positive: 51% excellent or good, 34% fair or poor.
More people feel positive rather than negative about Alito personally — 44% to 19%, respectively — with another third offering no rating. Those figures are also similar to Miers’ but lower than Roberts’.
Though the media’s focus has primarily been on Alito’s pro-life views on abortion, half of those polled say his views are in the mainstream and just a quarter say they are not. The rest had no opinion.
Despite sexist attacks from abortion advocates and leading Senate Democrats, it doesn’t bother most Americans (75%) that Alito is a man nominated to replace the first woman ever appointed to the Supreme Court.
When it comes to abortion, the public is evenly divided on the question of whether Alito would likely overturn the Roe v. Wade abortion decision that allowed virtually all abortions throughout pregnancy.
But the Gallup poll found that more Americans don’t want Alito to vote to overturn Roe, by a 53 to 37 percent margin.
On that question, Republicans want Alito to overturn Roe by a 56 to 35 percent margin and Democrats want him to support it by a 67 to 26 percent margin.
When it comes to voting on Alito, the poll found that Americans support a filibuster by a 50-40 percent margin and oppose changing Senate rules to prevent judicial filibusters by a 45 to 47 percent margin.
The Gallup poll results are based on telephone interviews with 603 national adults, aged 18 and older, conducted Nov. 1, 2005. The poll has a 4 percent margin of error.
