Just 18% of Americans Agree With Roe v. Wade That Abortion Should be Legal Up to Birth

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Sep 7, 2018   |   4:08PM   |   Washington, DC

With the Supreme Court decision in Roe v Wade at issue in this week’s confirmation hearings regarding the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the high court, a new poll provides an interesting bearing on where American stand regarding Roe.

Roe v Wade essentially allows abortion-on-demand for any reason up to the point of viability. But that decision is modified by the Doe v. Bolton decision that allowed abortions up to birth for so-called health reasons. Because so many states do not ban abortions after viability and because abortions are allowed for specious health reasons after that point in other states, the essential reality of Roe is that abortion is allowed virtually unlimited up to the point of birth.

Knowing that, where do Americans stand on Roe and legalized abortion up to birth?

A new poll finds that only a minority of Americans support abortion and an even smaller percentage support the central holdings of Roe allowing abortion virtually unlimited up to birth in all circumstances.

The American Barometer poll for The Hill found that 55 percent of Americans think abortions should be illegal in all or most cases, while just 18 percent think it should be legal for any reason up to birth.

The poll asked registered voters if they think abortions should be illegal in a circumstances, legal in limited circumstances such as rape, incest and risks to the mother’s life, legal under most circumstances until viability, or legal under all circumstances.

Strong majorities oppose most or all abortions, including 58 percent of men, 53 percent of women and 57 percent of Millennials, the poll found.

According to the poll, just 27 percent said abortions should be legal up to viability, and 18 percent said it should be legal under all circumstances.

As the polling crosstabs indicate, just 18 percent of women, 20 percent of young Americans under the age of 34, only 19 percent of millenials, and just 23% of blacks and 16% of Hispanics, support Roe’s result of abortion being legal under all circumstances.

Click Like if you are pro-life to like the LifeNews Facebook page and receive the latest pro-life news.

The findings are consistent with past polls. Gallup polls consistently find similarly strong opposition to most abortions. The May Gallup poll found 53% of Americans oppose all or most abortions even though some Americans who technically take a pro-life position opposing abortion wrongly think they are supposedly pro-choice.

The numbers indicate Americans want more protections for unborn babies. Roe v. Wade, along with its companion case Doe v. Bolton, allowed abortions for basically any reason up to birth. The United States is one of only seven countries in the world that allows elective abortions past 20 weeks a fact confirmed by the Washington Post fact checker.