Poll: 52 Percent Want New Justice to Support Abortion Rights

Fifty-two percent of voters want the next Supreme Court justice to support abortion rights, while only 29 percent seek a nominee to oppose these rights, and the remaining 19 percent don't know or have no opinion, according to a new Politico/Morning Consult poll released on Tuesday.

The poll was taken in the immediate aftermath of the retirement announcement last week of Justice Anthony Kennedy, who has often been a swing vote on the Supreme Court.

Other results of the survey include:

• Among Democrats, 73 percent want the nominee to support abortion rights, while 13 percent hope he won't.
• Among Republicans, only 31 percent want a new justice to support abortion rights, while 54 percent want him to be opposed.
• Among independents, 49 percent want the nominee to be a backer of abortion rights, while only 24 percent do not.
• Fifty-two percent of voters overall also hope the next justice supports same-sex marriage, while 27 percent hope he opposes it.
• Fifty-seven percent, also want the next justice to protect from deportation the Dreamers, young people brought to the U.S. illegally when they were children.
• Forty-eight percent want a justice who supports the death penalty, while 26 percent hope the nominee opposes it.
• Forty-eight percent was a nominee to support affirmative actions, while 20 percent hope he opposes it.
• Forty-eight percent say Supreme Court justices should be required to have 60 votes in order to win confirmation, while only 26 percent say justices should be confirmed with 51 votes, as the situation is now after Republicans changed the rule last year to get Neil Gorsuch nominated. The remaining 26 percent don't know.
• Thirty-nine percent want the Senate to vote on a Kennedy replacement before the midterm elections in November, while 38 percent say the Senate should wait until the new Congress is installed in January to vote on a new justice.
• Forty-three percent say how a Senate candidate decides on the Supreme Court nominee is very important to their vote, and another 34 percent say it is somewhat important, while only a combined 12 percent say it's not too important, or not important at all.

The poll was conducted June 28-29 and surveyed 1,990 registered voters. The margin of error is plus or minus 2 percentage points.

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