Strong majorities of Americans oppose laws banning medication abortion, disagree with judges overturning Food and Drug Administration approval of prescription drugs, don’t have much confidence in the Supreme Court and don’t think justices should serve lifetimes appointments, according to the latest NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll released Monday.
The finding come as the Supreme Court left in place — for now — access to the drug mifepristone, which is used in early-stage abortions. That’s unlikely to be the final word on the drug, as challenges relating to it are expected to again come before the high court, possibly as early as some time next year — right in the middle of a presidential election.
The Friday decision also comes nearly a year after the Supreme Court overturned the guaranteed right to an abortion in this country with its Dobbs ruling — and sent an earthquake through U.S. politics.
A lower court decision to nullify FDA approval of mifepristone is woefully out of step with public opinion, according to the NPR poll. By a 64%-to-35% margin, respondents in the survey of 1,291 adults said they oppose laws banning access to medication abortion. The poll was conducted from April 17 to 19, before the Supreme Court’s decision, and has a +/- 3.4 percentage point margin of error.
A majority (55%) of Republicans also oppose those types of laws, complicating GOP politics, which has struggled to figure out how to message around abortion — in a unified way — since the Dobbs ruling.
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