Family Life

05.27.10 |

Four moral and social issues cast a deep divide among Americans, with close percentages putting them in either the "morally acceptable" or "morally wrong" categories. The Gallup Poll's annual Values and Beliefs survey lists doctor-assisted suicide, gay or lesbian relations, abortion and having a child outside marriage as the most divisive topics in the U.S. The primary hot button matter is that of doctor-assisted suicide, with 46-percent labeling it as morally wrong and the same number calling it morally acceptable. On the issue of gay relationships, 52-percent are morally accepting of them while 42-percent are morally opposed. When it comes to the long-controversial issue of abortion, 38-percent of Americans classify the procedure as morally acceptable while half find it morally wrong. Giving birth outside of marriage is deemed morally acceptable by 54-percent, while 40-percent view it as morally wrong.

 Other issues respondents were polled on include the death penalty, medical testing on animals, stem cell research using human embryos, and cloning humans. The issue on which Americans are most closely in agreement is is marital infidelity. A huge 92-percent say it is morally wrong for married men and women to have an affair.