WASHINGTON — As the Senate nears debate on a new Supreme Court nominee who could give the panel a conservative edge, a majority of voters say they are increasingly opposed to undermining a woman’s right to have an abortion and are becoming more likely to say they support abortion-rights candidates, a new poll shows.
According to a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, Trump’s latest pick for the High Court, Brett Kavanaugh, enters confirmation proceedings with support from 32% of voters, compared with 26% opposed. Another 41% said they don’t have enough information yet. Kavanaugh appears to be the most politically divisive Supreme Court nominee since President Barack Obama selected then-Judge Sonia Sotomayor in 2009.
A record 71% of voters said they were opposed to overturning Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that recognized abortion as a woman’s constitutional right, including 59% who said they felt strongly on the matter, the poll found. Meanwhile, 23% said that overturning the ruling would be a good idea. That gap between opponents and supporters of reversing the Roe decision has been widening since 1991, according to poll results.
The poll also found a rise in the number of voters who said they prefer pro-choice candidates, 44%, compared with 26% who said they preferred abortion-rights opponents. That gap of 18 percentage points has grown from a 15-point spread in 2015, and just a 3-point gap in 2005, according to the poll.
An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com.
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