Most Americans favor keeping Roe v. Wade: polling

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The Supreme Court hears oral arguments in pivotal abortion case that could overturn Roe v. Wade ruling

Most Americans support keeping the landmark U.S. Supreme Court 1973 abortion decision Roe v. Wade in place, according to recent national surveys.

The landmark ruling is being challenged in a case concerning a Mississippi abortion law that the high court justices are hearing on Wednesday.

Two-thirds of voters questioned in a Fox News national poll conducted in September wanted to keep in place Roe, which legalized abortion nationwide. The 65% opposed to overturning the abortion ruling was a record in Fox polling, up from 61% a year ago, and narrowly eclipsing the previous high of 64% in June 2019.

Anti-abortion and pro-abortion rights activists are separated by a barrier as they protest outside the Supreme Court building, ahead of arguments in the Mississippi abortion rights case Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health, in Washington, December 1, 2021. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst (REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst)

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Other recent national polls showed similar findings. 

According to an ABC News/Washington Post survey conducted early last month, 60% of Americans said Roe should be upheld, with 27% saying the ruling should be overturned.

And only a fifth of those questioned in a Marquette Law School national survey conducted in September wanted to see Roe overturned by the Supreme Court. The findings were in line with larger polls conducted by Gallup and Pew Research earlier this year.

Fox News national poll on support for overturning the landmark Supreme Court Roe v. Wade ruling. (Fox News)

Going past the top lines, the Fox News poll indicated that for the first time, over half of Republicans (53%) joined majorities of Democrats (77%) and Independents (64%) in saying Roe should remain the law of the land. 

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Seven in 10 White Catholics (72%) and nearly half of White evangelical Christians (49%) also thought the decision should stand.

The Roe ruling established a constitutional right to abortion. It also prohibited states from banning the procedure before fetal viability, or around 23 weeks. The Mississippi law bans abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

Sixty-five percent of Americans questioned in an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Research poll conducted in June said that abortion should be illegal in most cases in the second trimester. That figure jumped to 80% for the third trimester.

Fox News' Victoria Balara contributed to this report