Wide partisan gaps in abortion attitudes, but opinions in both parties are complicated

At a pivotal moment in the country’s decades-long debate over abortion rights, public attitudes about the legality of abortion are largely divided along partisan lines – and to a greater extent than in past decades. At the same time, a major new Pew Research Center study finds a wide range of opinions among Republicans and Democrats on several abortion-related issues.  

About six-in-ten U.S. adults (61%) say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, while 37% say it should be illegal in all or most cases, according to the survey, which was conducted March 7-13, 2022, among 10,441 adults. The survey was fielded before the recent publication of a draft Supreme Court opinion that suggested the justices may be poised to strike down Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 case that effectively authorized abortion nationwide.

The share of Americans who say abortion should be legal in all or most cases is little changed in recent years. But support is higher today than it was a decade ago. In 2012, and throughout much of former President Barack Obama’s administration, only about half of Americans said abortion should always or mostly be legal.