Sixty-nine percent of people polled would not like to see the Supreme Court “completely overturn” its Roe v. Wade decision on abortion rights, according to a new Pew Research Center poll.
Opposition to overturning the Roe v. Wade has grown steadily in Pew Research Center polling. The portion of people who oppose overturning the entire ruling has grown by 6 percentage points since January 2013.
The demographics of those who are most opposed to overturning the ruling include left-leaning liberals, those who identify as “unaffiliated” religiously, and respondents with a postgraduate degree.
“Majorities across all levels of education say the court should not overturn Roe v. Wade,” wrote Hannah Fingerhut for the Pew Research Center. “Still, higher levels of education are associated with less support for overturning the decision: Nearly nine-in-ten of those with postgraduate degrees (88%) say the court should not overturn the decision, compared with about seven-in-ten of those with a college degree (74%) or some college experience (70%) and 62% of those with a high school diploma or less education.”
The issue of overturning Roe v. Wade garnered new attention during an October 2016 presidential debate when President-elect Trump said his judicial appointees would “automatically” reverse the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision.
“Well, if we put another two or perhaps three justices on that’s really what’s going to be that will happen,” Trump said when asked about that possibility. “And that’ll happen automatically, in my opinion, because I am putting pro-life justices on the court.”
Trump has yet to name his Supreme Court nominee to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia, but future White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus has said the president-elect will name a potential replacement sometime around Inauguration Day. Trump has pledged to nominate a justice in the mold of Scalia.
Any nominee selected by Trump will likely be peppered with questions about the Roe v. Wade decision during potential confirmation proceedings.
