Majority now disapproves of Supreme Court’s performance in wake of abortion leak: poll

A majority of Americans now disapprove of the Supreme Court’s overall performance following the leak of a draft opinion that would overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision, according to a new survey from Monmouth University Poll. 

The poll, published on Wednesday, found that 52 percent of those surveyed said that they currently disapprove of the job the court is doing, while 38 percent of respondents said they approve. 

Two months ago, respondents were evenly split on the same question, with 42 percent approving and 42 percent disapproving of the high court’s job performance. 

Seventy-five percent of respondents who identify as Democrats said they disapprove of the job the court is doing, jumping from 54 percent of Democratic respondents saying the same thing in March, according to the poll. 

The percentage of independent respondents who said they disapprove of the Supreme Court’s performance also increased, up from 37 percent in March to 57 percent in the new poll.

In contrast, 65 percent of those surveyed who identify as Republicans said they currently approve of the job the high court is doing, compared with 52 percent of Republican respondents who said the same in March.

When asked if the court should revisit the Roe v. Wade decision, which established the federal right to abortion, 36 percent of respondents said it should be revisited, while 57 percent said the 1973 decision should remain as it is. 

If the Supreme Court does overturn Roe, 44 percent of respondents said they would like to see Congress pass a law making abortions legal across the U.S., while 43 percent said the states should make their own laws on abortion and 9 percent said that Congress should pass a law banning abortion nationwide. 

Thirty-three percent of respondents said that abortion should always be legal, and 31 percent said it should be legal with some limitations. On the other side of the issue, 26 percent said abortion should be illegal with exceptions in cases of rape, incest or when the life of the pregnant person is endangered and 8 percent said it should always be illegal. 

Monmouth University Poll’s survey was conducted from May 5 to 9 with a total of 807 adult respondents. The margin of error for the poll was plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.