Abortion in the Polls

Americans do not support abortion-on-demand (1)

Americans reject the effects of Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton of legalizing abortion for all nine months of pregnancy for any reason. Only 27 percent of Americans support the current legal status of abortion.

Abortion should be:

Legal under any circumstances: 27%
Legal under most circumstances: 10%
Legal only in a few circumstances: 39%
Illegal in all circumstances: 22%

Both men and women think abortion is morally wrong (1)

Contrary to the false idea that abortion protects women's rights and therefore more women would be supportive of abortion than men, both men and women share similar views about abortion and a majority of both believe it is morally wrong.

Abortion is morally wrong - women: 51%

Abortion is morally wrong - men: 51%

With respect to the abortion issue, would you consider yourself to be pro-choice or pro-life?

Pro-life men: 46%

Pro-life women:44%

Pro-choice men: 49%

Pro-choice women: 50%

Young people are prolife (2)

Support for abortion is strongest among middle-aged people who were born before or soon after Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973. Prolife beliefs are highest among seniors and young people, with a close majority of those 18-29 saying abortion should be illegal in all or most cases.

Illegal in all or most cases:
18-29: 48%
30-49: 41%
50-64: 41%
65+: 48%

Legal in all or most cases:
18-29: 47%
30-49: 50%
50-64: 47%
65+: 36%

Americans support greater regulations on obtaining abortions (3)

Three-times more Americans believe that access to abortion is too easy rather than too hard. Only 15% believe that there are too many barriers for mothers seeking to abort their child.

Getting an abortion in America is:

Too easy: 48%

Too hard: 15%

Just right : 23%

Americans oppose taxpayer-funded abortions (4)

A strong majority of Americans oppose the use of their taxpayers dollars to fund abortions, and disapprove of the new system set up in federal health care reform to pay for abortion with insurance.

Say someone buys private health insurance using government assistance to help pay for it. Do you think insurance sold that way should or should not be allowed to include coverage for abortions?

Include coverage for abortions: 42%
Not include coverage for abortions: 58%

Lower income Americans are more likely to oppose insurance coverage for abortion (4)

Many who support abortion argue that we need to pay for abortions with tax dollars because poor people don't have access to reproductive health care. Contrary to that argument, the less money you make the more likely you are to oppose both taxpayer funding of abortion and even private insurance coverage of abortion.

Now thinking about women who are covered by private health insurance plans that are paid for by private individuals or employers with no money from the government involved. Do you think private insurance plans should cover some or all of the costs of an abortion, or do you think that women who want an abortion should have to pay the complete costs of that abortion out of their own pockets?

Plans cover some/all:

Less than $25k: 39.6%
$25k - $49.9k: 47.5%
$50k - $99.9k: 65.0%
More than $100k: 65.3%

Women pay all costs:

Less than $25k: 60.4%
$25k - $49.9k: 52.5%
$50k - $99.9k: 35.0%
More than $100k: 34.7%

Americans would ban more than 90% of abortions (5)

A majority of Americans, given their stated views, would ban more than 90% of abortions tomorrow if Roe v. Wade were overturned and they were allowed to vote.

When asked about their primary reason for seeking an abortion, less than 1% of women said it was because of rape, less that 1% due to incest, 4% listed their health and 3% said the health of their child. (6) Interestingly, the poll indicates Americans don't understand the vast majority of abortions are performed for social and economic reasons, not the so-called "hard cases." The poll shows 57% support keeping abortion legal in all or most cases, yet 57% also say abortions should be illegal if the reason is to end an "unwanted pregnancy." This means prolifers have a great opportunity to inform people that the current law does not reflect their views on the issue.

While Right to Life of Michigan believes that abortion is not the answer to a pregnancy which is the result of sexual assault, a recognition of current popular opinion would bring a welcome end to more than one million abortions every year.

Abortion should be legal or illegal in the following cases:
All or Most Cases - Legal: 57%  Illegal: 42%
To Save Woman's Life - Legal: 88%   Illegal: 10%
To Save Woman's Health - Legal 82%   Illegal: 14%
In Cases of Rape/Incest - Legal 81%   Illegal: 17%
Physically Impaired Baby - Legal 54%  Illegal: 40%
To End Unwanted Pregnancy - Legal: 42%   Illegal: 57%
D&X/Partial-Birth Abortions - Legal: 23%  Illegal: 69%
Pregnancy is 6 Months or More - Legal: 11%   Illegal: 86%

 

Citations

1 - Gallup poll of 1,018 adults conducted May 5-8, 2011. www.gallup.com
2 - Pew Research Center poll of 3,013 adults conducted March 31-April 21, 2009. people-press.org

3 - Rasmussen Reports poll of 1,000 likely voters conducted August 11-12, 2010. www.rasmussenreports.com
4 - Thomson Reuters poll of 3,013 adults conducted March 1-14, 2011. www.factsforhealthcare.com
5 - ABCNEWS/Washington Post poll of 1,114 adults conducted Jan. 16-20, 2003. abcnews.go.com
6 - Finer, L. et al (2005). Reasons U.S. Women Have Abortions: Quantitative and Qualitative Perspectives. Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 37(3).