Most Americans oppose Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation as Trump's Supreme Court pick appears before Senate

62 per cent of voters in October poll believe Roe v Wade ruling should be upheld

A majority of Americans believe the Senate should wait to hold confirmation hearings for the next US Supreme Court Justice until after the presidential election, as hearings begin for Donald Trump's pick to fill a vacancy left by the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg a few weeks before Election Day.

Fifty-two percent of registered voters in a poll from The Washington Post-ABC News believe the seat should be filled by the winner of the election, while 44 per cent of respondents agree that the hearings should continue as scheduled.

The Senate Judiciary Committee began hearings on Monday.

The future of healthcare and abortion rights are in the national crosshairs with a potential conservative majority on the nation’s highest court. The poll found that most Americans believe the landmark abortion rights decision from the 1973 case Roe v Wade should be upheld.

Less than a quarter of respondents in the Post-ABC poll believe it should be overturned, while 14 per cent do not have an opinion. Some 62 per cent believe the decision guaranteeing a women’s access to abortion care should be upheld.

Opposition to overturning Roe v Wade is stronger among Democrats and independent voters – 81 per cent of registered Democratic voters believe the decision should be upheld, along with 63 per cent of independents.

The strongest support for overturning the ruling falls among “very conservative” voters (57 per cent) and white Evangelical Christians (51 per cent).

That partisanship colours support for the confirmation hearings overall – 77 per cent of Republican voters want the hearings to proceed, while 83 per cent of Democrats object.

But opposition to the GOP-controlled Senate’s push to hold hearings within days of the election has slipped in recent weeks.

In September, 63 per cent of independent voters believed the winner of the election should determine the course but the latest poll found that group nearly split.  Among independents, 51 per cent believe the hearings should wait, while 46 per cent say they should continue.

The phone poll was performed last week among a sample of 1,014 people, including 879 registered voters. Three-quarters of respondents were called on mobile phones, while the remaining respondents were on landlines. The poll’s margin of error falls at plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

In her opening statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee, the judge highlighted her family, faith and connection to late conservative Justice Antonin Scalia, her mentor.

The federal appellate judge and Notre Dame law professor said that she was guided by his “reasoning” and “straightforward” judicial philosophy.

"A judge must apply the law as written, not as the judge wishes it were," she said in prepared remarks, revealed on Sunday.

The controversial judge has faced intense scrutiny for signing on to anti-abortion campaigns, including speeches hosted by anti-abortion groups, membership on a Faculty for Life group, and signature on a Right to Life ad. 

Senate Democrats have demanded some of those materials from the Department of Justice after they were not disclosed in filings with the Senate, according to reports. 

The unprecedented state of the judiciary committee will play a crucial role in the hearings – vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris and several Republicans, including Lindsey Graham, Thom Tillis, Joni Ernst and John Cornyn, are all on the ballot.

Senator Tillis was among more than a dozen key GOP officials who tested positive for the coronavirus following a likely “super-spreader” event at the White House where the president unveiled his nominee to a large crowd of supporters.

Mike Lee, another Republican senator on the committee, also tested positive after attending the event.