SUPPORT for legal abortion in the United States has risen since the Supreme Court eliminated protections, according to a poll published today.

The survey by the Associated Press news agency and the NORC Centre for Public Affairs Research shows that around six in 10 US citizens believe that their state should generally allow a person to obtain a legal abortion if they don’t want to be pregnant for any reason. 

The vast majority — more than eight in 10 — say abortion should be legal in extreme circumstances, such as when a patient’s life would be endangered by continuing the pregnancy. 

About eight in 10 say the same about a pregnancy caused by rape or incest or when a foetal anomaly would prevent the child from surviving outside the womb.

Seven in 10 US citizens believe that abortion should be legal in all or most cases, a slight increase from last year.

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has declined to endorse a nationwide abortion ban, saying the issue should be left up to individual states. 

The Supreme Court repealed the 1973 Roe v Wade judgement in 2022, effectively removing the constitutional right to an abortion and allowing states to decide on their legality.