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A growing majority of Americans support legal abortion in at least the early months of pregnancy, but the public has become more politically divided on the issue, according to a new 

The data, released days before the one-year anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in 

Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization

 decision that overturned decades of precedent, suggests continued growth in public support for abortion rights. It comes at a time when many states are implementing new restrictions, which often include only 

61 percent of respondents said overturning 

was a "bad thing," while 38 percent said it was a "good thing." 

Lydia Saad, Gallup's director of U.S. social research, says overall, the data suggests that 

"galvanized people who were already supportive of abortion rights. ...We've seen an increase in Democrats identifying as pro-choice, supporting abortion rights at every stage. It's really a very defensive posture, protecting abortion rights in the face of what they view as this assault."

Long-term data from Gallup indicates growing support for abortion rights: 13 percent of survey respondents said abortion should be illegal in "all circumstances," down from 22 percent when the question was first asked in 1975. In this year's survey, 34 percent said abortion should be 

"under any circumstances," up from 21 percent that first year. 

For decades, a slight majority of the American public – 51 percent this year and 54 percent in 1975 – has made up a middle group which says that abortion should be legal "only under certain circumstances."

Support for legal abortion wanes as a pregnancy progresses, but the survey found record-high support for abortion access in the first trimester, at 69 percent.

Saad said she believes that reflects growing dissatisfaction with laws in some states that 

 around six weeks of pregnancy or earlier.

 "We've crossed a line where having abortion not legal, even up to the point of viability ... is just a step too far for most Americans," Saad said. 

The poll also found a deepening partisan divide on the issue of abortion; 60 percent of Democrats said it should be "legal under any circumstances," up dramatically from 39 percent as recently as 2019. Just 8 percent of Republicans, meanwhile, say the procedure should be legal in all circumstances, a number that has been on a long-term downward trajectory.

Gallup also is releasing data that suggests 

 mifepristone, which is at the center of a 

 filed by anti-abortion-rights groups seeking to overturn the Food and Drug Administration approval of the pill. 

The survey found that 63 percent of Americans believe the pill should be available with a prescription. According to Gallup, after the FDA approved a two-drug protocol involving mifepristone in 2000, 50 percent of Americans said they supported that decision.

The survey was conducted from May 1-24 among 1,011 adults as part of Gallup's Values and Beliefs poll. 

Politics and Government News

Sarah McCammon

Author

The latest Gallup poll also finds increased political polarization. Some 60 percent of Democrats said abortion should be legal under any circumstances, compared with 8 percent of Republicans.

Nearly a year later, most Americans oppose Supreme Court's decision overturning Roe

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