Poll: Pro-choice Americans lose confidence in the country's direction

The percentage of Americans supporting abortion legalization in most cases who say that the country is headed in the right direction fell by 9 points, to 25%, according to the Economist/YouGov Poll conducted immediately after the May 2 leak of the Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. The percentage seeing the country heading in the right direction held steady at its new, lower level until the first Economist/YouGov Poll after the Dobbs ruling found a 12-point drop to 12%. In just two months, the percentage of people favoring abortion legality who are feeling positive about the country’s direction plummeted from 34% to 12%; it rebounded to 18% in the latest poll. (Among Americans who oppose abortion legalization, the view of the country’s direction has remained steady.)