Confidence in Supreme Court hits record low amid Roe v. Wade

America’s confidence in the US Supreme Court hit a record low this month as the justices are expected to issue a ruling overturning the 1973 Roe v. Wade as soon as Friday, a new survey found. 

Only 25% of Americans have a “great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in the Supreme Court, an 11 percentage point drop from last year, according to a Gallup survey.

Gallup – which has measured confidence in the country’s highest court for 50 years – said the previous low of confidence was 30% in 2014. 

Approximately 43% of respondents said they had “some” confidence in the Supreme Court, while 31% said they had “very little” or “none.” 

Broken down by parties, the survey – released Thursday – found a massive drop in support from Democrats and Independents. Specifically, only 13% of Democrats have confidence in the court, compared to 30% previously and approximately 25% of Independents have confidence, while 40% did before. 

Confidence among Republicans – which are majorly represented on the court with six conservative justices – went up by approximately two percentage points (37% to 39%). Still, it is drastically lower from the 53% recorded in 2020. 

Meanwhile, Democrats lead the way for the least amount of confidence with 47% saying they have “very little” or “none.” Independents followed with 30% while only 17% of Republicans agreed. 

The survey was conducted among 1,015 US adults between June 1 and June 20 and carried a sampling error of plus or minus four percentage points. 

The findings came just one day before the Supreme Court is expected to release a decision in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson’s Women Health Organization –  which concerns the legality of a Mississippi law that bans all abortions after 15 weeks except in cases of medical emergencies and fetal abnormality. 

A draft opinion of the ruling leaked in May, written by Justice Samuel Alito, indicated that the court intended to rule in favor of the state and overturn Roe, citing its unconstitutionality. 

It is unclear how similar the final opinion will be to the draft, as recent polling has found the majority of Americans wish for the landmark abortion ruling to stay in place. 

The court is expected to start releasing opinions at 10 a.m. No other opinion release days have been publicly announced.