Harvard Poll: 72% of Americans Think Abortion Should Not Be Legal After 15 Weeks 

Anti-abortion protesters gather outside the Supreme Court in Washington, Friday, June 24,
AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana

An overwhelming majority of Americans believe abortion should not be legal after 15 weeks, according to a poll conducted after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

A new Harvard-CAPS poll found that 72 percent of Americans think abortion should be allowed only until the 15th week of pregnancy. Moreover, the 15-week threshold has bipartisan support from a majority of Democrats, Republicans, and independents.

Among Democrats, 60 percent believe abortion should be prohibited after the 15th week. In addition, 84 percent of Republicans and 70 percent of independents believe the same.

Further, A majority of both genders agree with the 15-week cut-off date for abortion. Seventy-five percent of women support the 15-week cut-off, which is near the 69 percent of men who also agree with that timeline.

Harvard’s Center for American Political Studies polled 1,308 American voters from June 28 to June 29, just days after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the landmark abortion case Roe v. Wade and sent the issue back to state legislatures.

Pro-life activists celebrate the decision overturning the controversial 1973 Roe v. Wade abortion decision outside the U.S. Supreme Court on June 24, 2022, in Washington, DC. (OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images)

A plurality of voters, 44 percent, believe that state legislatures should have the power to determine abortion standards. This is compared to the 25 percent who believe Supreme Court justices should decide the issue and the 31 percent who would have Congress make national abortion laws.

Additionally, more than one-third of voters have bought into the Democrat narrative that the U.S. Supreme Court is illegitimate. The poll found that 37 percent consider the Supreme Court to be illegitimate.

These numbers come after prominent Democrats, like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), protested the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe as “illegitimate.”

On the other hand, Harvard’s poll found that the Court’s decision to overturn Roe has a net neutral impact on midterm voting turnout. Of those surveyed, 36 percent said the Court’s decision would make them more likely to vote for a Democrat. An equal number of respondents said it would make them more likely to vote for a Republican. Another 29 percent of respondents said the Court’s decision had “no effect” on their midterm voting behavior.

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