Twice as Many Americans Want to See Roe v. Wade Stand Rather than Overturned

The majority of the Americans surveyed think Roe v. Wade should not be overturned and this group is more likely to think abortion should be legal in all circumstances as opposed to only certain circumstances or not at all.     These findings are the result of an Invisibly survey of over 2,000 Americans concerning the potential of Roe v. Wade being overturned.    

Highlights

1. 53% of respondents don’t think Roe v. Wade should be overturned, 25% think it should, and 23% are unsure.
2. Respondents are more likely to feel their state has too many abortion restrictions than not.
3. The majority of respondents who think Roe v. Wade should be overturned, are men.
4. Those who feel Roe v Wade should not be overturned are most likely to be moderate.

 

The Process

From May 6th to May 19th, we used a Realtime Research survey to canvas Americans about their thoughts regarding Roe v. Wade and abortion. The full list of questions are listed below:

 

We Asked

1. Do you think Roe v. Wade should be overturned?
2. Do you feel that abortion should be dealt with on the federal or state level?
3. How do you feel about the abortion restrictions in your state?
4. Do you feel that abortion should be legal?
5. What is your political alignment?
6. Which of the following describes you: Conservative, Moderate, Liberal
7. What is your gender?
8. What is your age range?

 
Invisibly Realtime Research differs from traditional online surveys in that the questions are shown to people on web pages in place of an ad (Figure 1). Realtime Research surveys are optional, thus ensuring that participants are responding voluntarily. Figure 1. An example of the 300×250 Realtime Research survey unit. Questions are shown to the user on web pages in place of an ad.

 

Results

Out of 2,105 respondents, a majority of 53% feel that Roe v. Wade should not be overturned (Figure 2A). Additionally, respondents are more likely to feel that abortion should be dealt with on the federal level as opposed to a state level (Figure 2B). While a significant number of respondents don’t know about their states abortion restrictions, respondents are most likely to feel that their state has too many abortion restrictions (Figure 2C).

Figure 2. Americans opinions about abortion. A. Majority of American’s feel Roe V. Wade should not be overturned B. Americans are more likely to feel that abortion should be dealt with one federal level. C. Americans are more likely to feel that there are too many abortion restrictions in their state.

Respondents are most likely to think that abortion should be legal in all circumstances rather than only in some circumstances or illegal in all cases (Figure 3A). Significantly, 40% of respondents who think Roe v. Wade should be overturned still feel that abortion should be legal in some circumstances (Figure 3B).

Figure 3. Americans opinion on if abortion should be legal. A. Americans are most likely to feel that abortion should be legal under any circumstance. B. 40% of people who feel that Roe v. Wade should be overturned also feel that abortion should be legal under certain circumstances. The majority of people who feel that Roe v. Wade should be overturned are men and a significant amount of 35% are women. Meanwhile, 50% of people who feel it should not be overturned are women and 39% are men (Figure 4A). Of the respondents who feel that Roe v. Wade should not be overturned, they are most likely to identify as politically moderate (Figure 4B). Figure 4. Respondents’ opinion on the status of Roe v. Wade broken out by gender and political alignment. A. Majority of the people who feel that Roe v. Wade should be overturned are men B. Those who feel that Roe v. Wade should not be overturned are most likely to identify as moderate.

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Discussion

Last month, a leaked document showed that the Supreme Court drafted a vote to overturn Roe v. Wade, a court case which has protected abortion rights for millions of Americans at the federal level for almost 50 years. Our poll shows that the majority of Americans surveyed disagree with this pending Supreme Court decision.

If Roe v. Wade is overturned, it would leave it up to the states to decide the legality of abortion within their borders. However, our poll shows that the majority are either unaware of their states abortion restrictions or they feel there are too many restrictions.

While states have been recently tightening their abortion rights, if Roe v. Wade is overturned, many more states are likely to ban or heavily restrict abortion. While the debate of abortion has largely been portrayed to be one between liberal and conservative, Democrat vs Republican, our survey reveals that a large percentage (40%) of people who feel Roe should be overturned still feel that abortion should be legal under some circumstances. Additionally, those who feel that Roe v. Wade should not be overturned are more likely to be moderate than liberal. 

However, our study still confirms the general trend that democrats and liberals are more likely to favor Roe and having less restrictions on abortion while conservatives and republicans favor Roe being overturned and having more abortion restrictions.

Invisibly Realtime Research surveys differ from traditional online surveys in that the questions are shown to the user on web pages in place of an ad. Unlike Google Surveys, which block access to content until the questions are answered, Realtime Research surveys are optional, thus ensuring that participants are responding voluntarily.