A draft Supreme Court opinion allowing states to force women to carry unwanted pregnancies to term would be at odds with the views of a majority of Americans, according to a poll conducted last week by ABC News and The Washington Post.

       The survey of a randomly chosen group made up of 1,004 adults contacted between 24 April and 28 April found that Americans believe the court should uphold Roe v Wade – the landmark 1973 case that legalised abortion – by a margin of two to one, with 54 per cent of respondents saying it should be upheld and only 28 per cent in support of overruling the decision.

       But the Supreme Court, which in December heard arguments in the case of a Mississippi law that would ban abortion after 15 weeks, appears poised to strike down a half-century of precedent and give states broad latitude to determine whether women who become pregnant – even as a result of rape or incest – will have the ability to choose for themselves whether to carry the pregnancy to term.

       Laws such as the Mississippi law at issue are also opposed by 57 per cent of Americans, the poll found, with 58 per cent saying abortion should be legal in “most” or “all” cases, and only 37 per cent of respondents saying that it should be illegal in “most” or “all” cases.

       Additionally, 82 per cent of respondents said abortion should always be legal when continuing a pregnancy would endanger a woman’s health, while 79 per cent said abortions should be legal for victims of rape or incest. Sixty-seven per cent of Americans also said abortion should be legal when the unborn child is likely to suffer from serious birth defects.

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