The legal right to have an abortion is more popular than President Trump, according to reproductive rights activist and journalist Liz Plank.
“The idea that repealing Roe v. Wade is a popular measure is just not true, Plank said on The Hill’s “Rising.” “In fact, if you look at the president’s approval rating, abortion is more popular than Donald Trump.”
A majority of Americans support Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll.
The poll, which surveyed more than 1,000 voters nationwide, found that 63 percent of respondents agreed with the high court’s decision, compared with 31 percent who said they do not.
According to the latest figures from political analysis site, FiveThirtyEight, Trump’s approval rating is hovering around 42 percent.
Plank told “Rising” co-host Krystal Ball that Americans — even those who identify as being anti-abortion — aren’t as divided over abortion rights as people say.
“The idea that abortion is controversial is a fabricated myth by the right wing in order to keep passing these policies and laws that are just unpopular,” Plank said. “Even people who identify as pro-life are in favor of abortion at least in certain circumstances.”
Roe v. Wade has come under a renewed focus as President Trump gears up to nominate his second Supreme Court justice. The opportunity comes after Justice Anthony Kennedy announced last week that he would be retiring from the bench at the end of July.
Many Democrats like Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) have expressed concern that Trump’s pick could vote to overturn Roe v. Wade. On the campaign trail in the 2016 presidential election, then-candidate Trump vowed to appoint pro-life justices to the high court.
Speculation over Trump’s potential to pick a justice who would overturn Roe v. Wade comes amid a flurry of states passing laws to chip away at the landmark Supreme Court decision. Over the past year, states like Iowa and Mississippi have advanced stricter limits on abortion rights, enacting some of the country’s toughest laws on abortion.
In June, a federal judge halted Iowa’s controversial new “heartbeat law,” issuing a temporary injunction. The new abortion law bans nearly all abortions once a fetal heartbeat can be detected at around six weeks of pregnancy — before many women even know they are pregnant. The law was slated to take effect on July 1.
— Tess Bonn
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