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Posted: 2022-05-06T14:21:22Z | Updated: 2022-05-06T14:21:22Z

Americans broadly support abortion rights, but many have complicated and conflicting feelings on the matter, with the timing and circumstances of an abortion a key factor, according to a new poll from the Pew Research Center.

The survey found 61% of Americans believe abortion should be legal in most or all cases, while 37% said it should be illegal most or all of the time. Most of the public, however, has at least somewhat mixed feelings on the matter: Only 19% said it should be legal in all cases, and a minuscule 8% said it should be illegal in all instances. There are also broad differences between when Americans think abortion is moral and when they think it should be legal.

Pew conducted the poll , which surveyed 10,441 American adults, from March 7-13 in anticipation of the Supreme Courts ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Center, a case about the legality of a 15-week abortion ban passed in Mississippi. A draft ruling in the case that would overturn Roe v. Wade and strike down abortion rights in the United States, authored by conservative Justice Samuel Alito, leaked earlier this week.

The ruling is not yet final, but if handed down, abortion would quickly become illegal in almost all cases in roughly half of the 50 states. Some Republicans have discussed trying to pass a nationwide ban on abortion.

The survey did not ask directly about the decision, or its political implications. Instead, Pew focused on Americans feelings about abortions morality and legality.

A majority of Americans 56% say how long a woman has been pregnant should be a factor in deciding whether abortion is legal. At six weeks, 51% say abortion should be legal, while 26% say it shouldnt be and 19% say it depends. At 14 weeks, roughly the end of the first trimester of a pregnancy, 41% say abortion should be legal, while 33% say it should be illegal and 22% say it depends.

After the point of viability, when a fetus could survive outside the womb, support for legal abortion drops: Just 29% say abortion should be legal at 24 weeks, while 48% say it should be illegal, and 18% say it depends.