Sixty-four percent of those surveyed said the 1973 decision that legalized abortion nationwide should stand, according to a Gallup poll released Thursday. | AP Photo / Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo Poll: 64 percent of Americans want Roe v. Wade to stand

Nearly two-thirds of Americans do not want to see Roe v. Wade overturned, according to a new poll.

Sixty-four percent of those surveyed said the 1973 decision that legalized abortion nationwide should stand, according to a Gallup poll released Thursday. That is up 11 percentage points from 53 percent in 2012.


The Roe v. Wade decision made its way back into the news after the retirement of Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy — which gave President Donald Trump the opportunity to nominate a new justice.

Trump said on the campaign trail that he would nominate only judges who oppose abortion rights. On Monday, he nominated D.C. Circuit Judge Brett Kavanaugh, who has, over a decade, favored compromise in cases on abortion and Obamacare.

The president said he did not ask Supreme Court candidates about Roe v. Wade.

Twenty-eight percent of respondents in the Gallup poll say the ruling should be overturned, down 1 percentage point from 2012. Nine percent said they have no opinion.

The results showed partisan differences: Eighty-one percent of Democrats are against overturning Roe v. Wade compared with 41 percent of Republicans.

The poll was conducted July 2-8, before Kavanaugh was nominated. Through telephone interviews, 1,291 adults were surveyed. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percent.