Pew Research Center
Media Contact: Kelsey Beveridge
kbeveridge@pewresearch.org 

WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 6, 2022) – As the country approaches what could be a watershed moment in the history of abortion laws and policies, relatively few Americans on either side of the debate take an absolutist view on the legality of abortion – either supporting or opposing it at all times, regardless of circumstances. A new Pew Research Center survey explores the nuances of the public’s attitudes on this issue in detail. The survey was conducted March 7-13 – before the May 2 publication of a leaked draft of a Supreme Court majority opinion that suggests the court is poised to strike down Roe. Nearly one-in-five U.S. adults (19%) say that abortion should be legal in all cases, with no exceptions. Fewer (8%) say abortion should be illegal in every case, without exception. By contrast, 71% either say it should be mostly legal or mostly illegal, or say there are exceptions to their blanket support for, or opposition to, legal abortion.

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