Four years after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Americans remain closely divided on abortion, but the shift in public opinion that followed the landmark ruling appears to have become a lasting feature of the nation’s political landscape, according to new polling and research released this month.
A Gallup survey found that 48% of Americans believe abortion should be legal in all or most circumstances, while 49% say it should either be illegal or legal only in a few circumstances. The nearly even split has remained largely unchanged since 2022, when the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization returned abortion regulation to the states.
The findings represent a notable change from the decades before Dobbs. For much of the previous quarter-century, majorities of Americans favored abortion being legal only in limited circumstances or not at all.
Gallup also found that 53% of Americans now identify as “pro-choice,” compared with 42% who identify as “pro-life.” Those figures have remained relatively stable since the Dobbs decision and mark a departure from much of the period between 2009 and 2021, when Americans were more evenly divided between the two labels.
Women continue to express stronger support for abortion rights than men. Fifty-five percent of women said abortion should be legal in all or most circumstances, compared with 38% of men.
Separate research released by Pew Research Center found somewhat stronger support for legal abortion. In a January 2026 survey, Pew reported that 60% of Americans believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases, while 38% said it should be illegal in all or most cases.
Pew’s analysis also highlighted how abortion practices have changed in recent decades. According to federal data, legal abortions peaked in the late 1980s and early 1990s before declining substantially over the last three decades. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported more than 613,000 legal abortions in 2022 among reporting jurisdictions, while estimates from the Guttmacher Institute place the national total closer to 930,000 in 2020.
Medication abortions now account for most procedures performed in the United States. CDC data shows that 58% of abortions in 2022 involved abortion pills rather than surgical procedures, continuing a trend that has accelerated since the Food and Drug Administration approved mifepristone in 2000.
The survey found similar divisions when Americans were asked about the morality of abortion. Forty-nine percent described abortion as morally acceptable, while 41% said it is morally wrong. Another 8% said the answer depends on the circumstances.
Political affiliation remains one of the strongest predictors of opinion on the issue. Three-quarters of Democrats support abortion being legal in all or most circumstances, compared with 15% of Republicans. Independent voters fell between the two groups, with 48% favoring broader legality.
Gallup researchers said attitudes toward abortion shifted significantly after the Dobbs ruling but have remained largely unchanged since then. As states continue adopting widely different abortion policies, the nation remains deeply divided over one of its most enduring political and social issues.
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