NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist Poll: Majorities oppose Supreme Court's abortion ruling and worry about other rights; Dems surge to seven-point lead on generic ballot

NPR ^ | 06/27/2022 | Domenico Montanaro

[SeekAndFind]

Majorities of Americans say they disagree with the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, think it was politically motivated, are concerned the court will now reconsider rulings that protect other rights, and are more likely to vote for a candidate this fall who would restore the right to an abortion, according to the latest NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll.

Still, a majority opposes expanding the number of justices who could sit on the Supreme Court.

In overturning Roe on Friday, the Supreme Court reversed 50 years of precedent that had made abortion a right in this country. The right to regulate abortion now is in states' hands, and about half the states have already moved to severely curtail access to an abortion or ban the procedure outright.

The issue is personal to most Americans. Two-thirds of people responding to the poll say they or someone they know has had an abortion. That was true of three-quarters of independents, 7-in-10 Democrats and 55% of Republicans.

Surveys have for years shown consistently that most Americans wanted to keep Roe in place and to see restrictions on when abortions could take place. What the court did is clearly outside the mainstream of public opinion, and that is reflected again in the NPR poll.

The survey of 941 respondents, conducted Friday after the decision through Saturday, has a margin of error of +/-4.9 percentage points.

A majority are against the decision

By a 56%-to-40% margin, respondents oppose the court's decision, including 45% who strongly oppose it.

Almost 9-in-10 Democrats and a slim majority of independents (53%) are against the decision. Three-quarters of Republicans, on the other hand, support it.

There is a massive split by education – 69% of college graduates oppose the decision while those without degrees are split. Half of whites without degrees support the decision, while two-thirds of whites with college degrees oppose it.

A majority of men and women are against the decision, though a slightly higher percentage of women oppose it (59% vs. 54%).

Along racial lines, 60% of non-whites and 54% of whites oppose the decision. (There were too few people surveyed to break out individual racial groups any further without margins of error getting too high.)

By a 57%-to-36% margin, respondents said the decision was mostly based on politics as opposed to the law. And by a 56%-to-41% margin are concerned that the overturning of Roe will be used by the Supreme Court to reconsider past rulings that protect contraception, same-sex relationships, and same-sex marriage.

Confidence in the Supreme Court is on the decline

Just 39% said they have a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in the Supreme Court; 58% said they have not very much or no confidence at all in the institution. That's a low in the poll.

But few want to change the size of the court in the wake of the decision. Only a third of respondents said they were in favor of expanding the Supreme Court; 54% percent said they oppose that move.

Sixty-two percent of Democrats said they are in favor of doing so, but 57% of independents and nearly 9-in-10 Republicans were opposed.

People are more likely to vote now – particularly Democrats

This issue presents volatility into the 2022 midterms, because 78% of Democrats say the court's decision makes them more likely to vote this fall, 24 points higher than Republicans.

A bare majority of 51% say they would definitely vote for a candidate who would support a federal law to restore the right to an abortion, while 36% would definitely vote against such a candidate.

That could be a shot in the arm for Democrats if they mobilize around this issue, though Republicans are still favored at this point to take back the House this fall because of high inflation and gas prices.

Democrats have regained the favor of voters to control Congress, with 48% saying they are more likely to vote for a Democratic candidate in the fall and 41% more likely to vote for a Republican. In April, Republicans led on that question in the poll 47% to 44%, which was within the margin of error. However, the lead for Democrats may not translate into maintaining control due to the way voters are geographically distributed and how boundaries of congressional districts are drawn.

President Biden gets a 40% approval rating, while 53% disapprove of the job he is doing.

[GrumpyOldGuy]

7 point lead, lol. FALSE. A lot of people are pissed, but a lot MORE people care about daily living getting tougher.

[apillar]

Fake News. With inflation at 10% and gas at $5+ a gallon the only people that are going to be voting on Abortion this November at the far left feminazi kooks that would have voted democrat no matter what happened.

[airborne]

🐂💩

[woweeitsme]

Who takes these “polls”? I find it hard to believe that baby-killing is going to override a horrendous economy.

Or, could it be, that this was planned to come out now so that there could be a “reason” for the Dems to win in November?

[rightwingcrazy]

I think the TV has been telling people that the USSC imposed a national ban on abortions, and too many believe that.

[Captain Peter Blood]

Once again I will ask this question and continue to do so: For 50 years Democrats and to a lesser degree Republicans, have had the opportunity to Codify Roe and craft a bill on Abortion, yet never did, WHY????????????????

[Dave911]

Have to call Bullshit on this one. NPR, seriously? Bet the poll had 80% Dem sampling.

[MinorityRepublican]

7 point lead, lol. FALSE. A lot of people are pissed

A lot of Suburban Moms are going to vote Democratic. Previously, they might vote Republican. So the GOP will have to replace their votes with the Hispanics. Just my .02

[Captain Peter Blood]

With Inflation raging and prices up for everything, Social Issues will be the last thing on People’s minds.

[OttawaFreeper]

Who cooks up these polls? I guess if it comes from NPR, they would probably have one in which most view someone like Stalin or even Pol Pot more favourably than Trump.

[tomkat]

This is blatant bullshit .. marxist PBS wishful thinking

[Lysandru]

...69% of college graduates oppose the decision...

A college degree is not an indicator of civics knowledge apparently. Even as a moderately pro-choice 14-year old, I completely rejected the majority's opinion in Roe v. Wade when I studied it in high school. It was bad jurisprudence--period, full stop.

[packagingguy]

Really? People choose playing with their privates over eating? Just wait until this fall when food is twice as expensive as it is today.

[Maskot]

NPR? hokay……🙄

[Maskot]

Ummmmm….

[hinckley buzzard]

NPR of course. But hey, they have tote bags!

[FlyingEagle]

NPR = see Aye Hey

[BobL]

...wait until they buy gas, and groceries, again.

[lurk]

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