SCOTUS is in the process of deciding the abortion case of the century….this wedge issue has been front and center in the political discourse since about 1980…..but what do Americans really think about abortion?

First, I am pro-choice but since I am male I really do not have a say in the decision….it is a personal decision that the government should have NO say in…..

Now what do we really think of abortion?

Abortion is back at the Supreme Court yet again. For the third time in six years, the justices will consider the constitutionality of a state law designed to restrict abortion — this time, a Mississippi ban on most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. And because the court is more conservative than it’s been in decades, many experts believe there’s a real possibility that the justices will use this case to overturn — or at least severely limit — the constitutional right to abortion established in 1973 by Roe v. Wade.

Roe may be one of the only Supreme Court decisions that most Americans can identify. In all likelihood, it’s more familiar to the average voter than the names of any justice currently serving on the Supreme Court. Surprisingly, though, trying to understand what Americans think about abortion rights — and how they’d react if Roe was reversed or reshaped — can feel like walking into a fogbank. 

Ask Americans whether Roe should be overruled, and the answer seems pretty straightforward: Polls consistently find that a majority think the Supreme Court should keep the ruling in place. But Americans’ views on abortion are hardly clear-cut. Majorities also support a variety of restrictions on abortion — including limits on abortion in the second trimester — that openly conflict with the Supreme Court’s rulings. For example, a 2020 Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that 69 percent of Americans favored laws requiring abortions to be performed only by doctors who had admitting privileges at a nearby hospital, even though the court ruled in 2016 that those laws place an unconstitutional burden on women’s right to abortion.

What Americans Really Think About Abortion

How does it look for Roe?

Glenn Cohen, a professor at Harvard Law School, tells Insider that Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, firmly in favor of overturning Roe, will likely be joined by Justice Neil Gorsuch, and there is no doubt that the court’s three liberal justices will choose to preserve the decision. That leaves Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh, and all three of them appear to be open to upholding the Mississippi law. Roberts, a firm believer in sticking with precedent, may be unlikely to vote to overturn Roe altogether—but Barrett and Kavanaugh may not follow his lead. On Monday, Kavanaugh asked questions suggesting he favors leaving abortion laws up to the states, while Barrett suggested that “safe haven” adoption laws in all 50 states may have eliminated the need for abortion, Slate reports.

Of the three, Roberts and Kavanaugh appear most likely to seek a middle ground, writes Thomas Berman at CNN. Amber Phillips at the Washington Post, however, notes that “any kind of compromise would be a sea change for abortion rights in America,” and if the court allows Mississippi’s 15-week limit to stand, around half the country could soon be under similar laws. A decision is expected in June, and Cornell Law School professor Sherry Colb tells Insider that she’s not in suspense about how Barrett and Kavanaugh will vote. “Both of them are opposed to Roe. They won’t say it … but there’s no mystery,” she says. “It’s just a question of whether it’s going to be 5-4 or 6-3.”

How long must we visit this?

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