Supreme Court job approval sinks to all-time low, poll shows

The Supreme Court’s job approval has sunk to an all-time low, according to new polling taken after the court declined to block a deeply divisive Texas law banning most abortions.

Only 37 percent of registered voters said they approve of the court’s handling of its job, with 50 percent expressing disapproval in a survey released Wednesday by Quinnipiac University, which has tracked the Supreme Court’s job approval since 2004. 

“The High Court is hit with low numbers,” Quinnipiac University polling analyst Tim Malloy said. “Amid a swirl of partisan issues on their plate, the conservative leaning court sees its lowest approval ever.” 

A little more than a year ago, the polling firm reported what was basically an inverse result: 52 percent of registered voters said they approved of the way the court was handling its job, 37 percent disapproved, and 11 percent offered no opinion. 

The poll published Wednesday was conducted roughly a week after the Supreme Court voted 5-4 to reject an emergency request from abortion providers to block the controversial Texas abortion restriction from taking effect.

The five conservative justices who comprised the majority said procedural complexities helped determine the court’s refusal to block the Texas law but added that the ruling did not seek to resolve the “serious questions” about the constitutionality of Texas’s law.

The landmark 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade could be in jeopardy next term, however, when the Supreme Court, with a 6-3 conservative majority, reviews a Mississippi law that bans abortion after 15 weeks.

In a related finding, the Quinnipiac survey showed that nearly 7 in 10 agree with the Roe decision and  that more Americans — by a 48 to 35 margin — say the Supreme Court should make it easier and not harder to get an abortion. 

Around 1,200 U.S. adults across the country responded to the Sept. 10-13 survey, which has a margin of error of 2.8 percentage points.