CBS News poll analysis: Americans have range of views on timing, circumstances of legal abortions

And among those who think abortion should be against the law in most cases, most still think some exceptions should be made.Under what conditions should abortion be permitted?We asked all respondents — including those who said abortion should be illegal in all cases in their state — whether there were certain instances where abortions should be permitted and found large majorities overall think abortions should be legal in cases where the woman's health is endangered by the pregnancy, in cases of rape or incest, and when there is a strong chance of either the fetus not surviving long after childbirth or being born with a serious disability. While most Americans believe a woman should be permitted to have an abortion because "she decides to," nearly all who think most abortions should be illegal in their state reject this idea.On the pro-abortion rights side, there is is little differentiation when it comes to these exceptions: most think all of these are valid reasons for an abortion to be permitted.When should an abortion be legal?For many Americans, how one feels about legal abortion in their state has more to do with at what point during the pregnancy the abortion would take place.