Family Life

05.25.11 | Sarah Harnisch

 Gallup released a poll Monday that shows Americans want all or most abortions made illegal. Most also said they believe abortion is morally wrong. Despite that, the poll found Americans are split on what they call their abortion position.
   Here are the numbers: 61-percent took a pro-life view that abortions should either be legal under no circumstances or legal under only a few circumstances, like rape, incest, or the life of the mother in danger. Just 37-percent said abortion should be legal in every circumstance. Gallup analyst Lydia Saad writes “over the past two decades, Americans have consistently leaned toward believing abortion should be legal in only a few or no circumstances.” Women take a stronger pro-life view than men: 24-percent of American women want all abortions made illegal and 36 percent want almost all illegal, compared with 19-percent of men who want to ban all abortions and 42-percent of men who want to prohibit almost all. “Just over half of Americans, 51%, believe abortion is “morally wrong,” while 39% say it is “morally acceptable.” However, 9 percent — almost 1 in 10 young adults — don’t know how to classify their abortion views, a mark that is twice as high as the other age categories.

The results of the Gallup poll show pro-life groups need to educate Americans on what constitutes a pro-life position — and to encourage them to call themselves pro-life when they want all or almost all abortions made illegal and believe abortion to be a morally wrong decision. If you want to read more on the story, go here.