Poll: On Roe v. Wade anniversary, majority think abortion should be legal

Roe v. Wade: decided on Jan. 22, 1973. Found that a Texas law that criminalized assisting women with abortions unconstitutional. Pictured: Jane Roe with lawyer Gloria Allred. (J. Scott Applewhite - AP)

A new NBC/WSJ poll finds that, on the 40th anniversary of the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision, 70 percent of Americans want the landmark abortion rights ruling to stay. Only 24 percent would like Roe v. Wade to be overturned.

In the same Pew poll, 54 percent think abortion should be always legal or legal most of the time. Another 35 percent think abortion should be illegal but with exceptions; only 9 percent think it should be illegal with no exceptions.