For The First Time In History, Most Americans Think Abortion Should Be Legal

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For the first time in history, a clear majority of Americans want abortion to be legal in all or most cases, according to a new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll released Monday night.

The poll found that 31 percent wanted abortion to be legal in every case, while 23 percent of respondents said they wanted abortion to be legal most of the time. That is the first time the combined response of those two options has gone above 50 percent.

Meanwhile, 35 percent of respondents wanted abortion to be illegal with exceptions in cases of rape, incest, or to save the mother's life — the most popular option. Only 9 percent of the respondents wanted abortion unilaterally illegal without exceptions.

The poll also found that 70 percent of respondents opposed overturning Roe v. Wade, on the 40th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court case that legalized a woman's constitutional right to abortion in the U.S.

Americans' opposition to overturning Roe v. Wade is at its highest point since it was first measured in 1989. Only 24 percent of respondents wanted to see Roe v. Wade overturned, the poll found.

Overall, 39 percent of respondents said they approved of the Roe v. Wade decision, while 19 percent disapproved. A large chunk of respondents — 41 percent — said they did not know enough about Roe v. Wade to have an opinion.

The sample was comprised of 52 percent women and 48 percent men and had a margin of error of plus-or-minus 3.1 percent.