Americans overwhelmingly want Supreme Court to protect abortion rights new poll says – as GOP tries to ban access

A just-released poll from The Washington Post/ABC News finds Americans overwhelmingly want the U.S. Supreme Court to protect abortion rights, and by broad margins support a woman's right to choose. That same poll finds Republicans are effectively evenly divided on the issue of abortion, despite the GOP using the issue to rally its base.

"Americans say by a roughly 2-to-1 margin that the Supreme Court should uphold its landmark abortion decision in Roe v. Wade, and by a similar margin the public opposes a Texas law banning most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy," the Post reports.

60 percent of Americans say "the Supreme Court should uphold Roe v. Wade," with barely more than one in four (27%) saying the court should overturn the nearly 50-year old decision.

Unsurprisingly, more than eight in ten Democrats (82%) say the Court should uphold a woman's right to choose. A significant majority of independents (58%) agree the ruling should stay in place.

But the poll also found Republicans statistically evenly divided, with 42 percent saying the law should stay in place, and 45 percent saying it should be overturned.

Governor Greg Abbott's extremist Texas law, which effectively "deputizes" every person in America into an anti-abortion vigilante if they so choose, is extremely unpopular.

Asked if they think the Supreme Court should uphold or reject the Texas law, a whopping two-thirds of Americans (65%) said they want the Court to reject it. Just 29% said the Court should uphold it. Many legal experts say the law is unconstitutional.

More bad news for Republicans across the country working to pass anti-abortion measures into law.

When asked, "do you think the decision whether or not a woman can have an abortion should be left to the woman and her doctor or should be regulated by law?" three out of four Americans (75%) said it is a decision that should be between a woman and her doctor.

The Guttmacher Institute, "a leading research and policy organization committed to advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights," reports if the Supreme Court overturns Roe, 26 states are "certain or likely" to ban abortion.