A new poll from The Economist/YouGov reports that the majority of adults in the United States think that abortion should be banned after the first trimester.
The poll, which surveyed 1,500 adults, was taken after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey in a ruling handed down on Friday, June 24. The poll asked a range of questions about abortion as well as the High Court’s ruling on the issue.
When asked, “On the subject of abortion, at what point in a pregnancy do you think abortions should be banned?” 54% of respondents said that abortion should be banned after the first trimester or sooner. Twenty-eight percent said that it should never be banned, 7% said that it should be banned after the second trimester, and 12% said that it should be banned after 15 weeks.
The same poll also found that 69% of U.S. adults believe that abortion should either be banned outright or have some restrictions and limitations. Thirty-one percent said that “abortion should always be legal. There should be no restrictions on abortion.”
The poll also asked, “Do you approve or disapprove of the Supreme Court’s ruling that there is no constitutional right to an abortion?”
A plurality of voters, 49% said they somewhat or strongly disapprove of the decision while 42% said they somewhat or strongly approved. Eight percent said they were not sure.
Yet, when asked, “Should abortion laws be decided nationally or left to the states?”
Just 40% said it should be decided nationally, 45% said it should be left to the states, and 15% said they were not sure.
Just a day after the poll was released, President Joe Biden announced that he would support nixing the filibuster to pass nationwide abortion laws through the Senate.
“We have to codify Roe v. Wade in the law, and the way to do that is to make sure the Congress votes to do that,” Biden said at a news conference in Europe. “And if the filibuster gets in the way, it’s like voting rights, we provide an exception for this, or an exception to the filibuster for this action.”
“It is a mistake, in my view, for the Supreme Court to do what it did,” Biden continued. “I feel extremely strongly that I’m going to do everything in my power, which I legally can do in terms of executive orders, as well as push the Congress and the public.”
Biden also accused the High Court of “destabilizing” the country with its decision.
“The one thing that has been destabilizing is the outrageous behavior of the Supreme Court of the United States and overruling, not only Roe v. Wade, but essentially challenging the right to privacy,” Biden told one reporter. “We’ve been a leader in the world in terms of personal rights, and privacy rights, and it is a mistake, in my view, for the Supreme Court to do what it did.”