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<\/a><\/p>\nWASHINGTON (Reuters) – Half of U.S. Republicans think a federal court was motivated by politics when it ordered the suspension of government approval for a widely used abortion pill, a Reuters\/Ipsos poll completed on Wednesday found.<\/p>\n
Fifty-one percent of self-identified Republicans in the poll said they agreed that the ruling last week – which would essentially make sales of the abortion pill mifepristone illegal – was politically motivated. Only 28% of Republicans disagreed, and the rest said they weren’t sure.<\/p>\n
A federal appeals court late on Wednesday put the ruling partly on hold, allowing mifepristone to remain available for now but with significant restrictions, while the case proceeds.<\/p>\n
Fifty-six percent of overall respondents, including 67% of Democrats, said the decision was politically motivated. <\/p>\n
The poll’s results point to deepening doubts about the impartiality of the U.S. justice system, and to potential trouble for Republicans in coming elections, including next year’s presidential contest.<\/p>\n
Many Republicans have campaigned on promises to ban abortion or severely restrict access to it, but a substantial slice of Republican voters support some form of abortion rights.<\/p>\n
During his four years in office, Republican former President Donald Trump nominated many federal judges associated with anti-abortion views, including three Supreme Court justices and U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Amarillo, Texas, the judge who suspended approval of mifepristone.<\/p>\n
The U.S. Supreme Court, which now leans conservative 6-3, last year struck down women’s constitutional right to abortion in a landmark case that is widely seen as a key factor in Republicans’ underperforming expectations in last year’s congressional elections.<\/p>\n
Fifty-one percent of Republicans in the poll, and 73% of Democrats, opposed state-level restrictions on access to abortion pills. Forty-three percent of Republicans said they were less likely to vote for a politician who supports limiting access to abortion.<\/p>\n
Doubts in the impartiality of the U.S. legal system have simmered in recent years. A Reuters\/Ipsos poll last month found about half of Americans, including one-third of Democrats, believe a New York investigation into whether Trump paid hush money to a porn star is politically motivated.<\/p>\n
The Reuters\/Ipsos poll gathered responses from 995 adults nationwide, including 433 self-described Democrats and 379 Republicans. The poll had a credibility interval, a measure of precision, of about 4-6 percentage points in either direction.<\/p>\n
\n(Reporting by Jason Lange; Editing by Scott Malone and Leslie Adler)<\/p>\n
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