Views On Abortion

Public polling, as seen below (sourced from Gallup^[1]), reveals that Americans are increasingly calling themselves Pro-Life (50%) and continue to say abortion should be legal only in a few circumstances (59%) such as rape (75%) and life of the mother (83%).

Legal or Illegal[edit]

According to Gallup's most recent poll (May 3–6, 2012), 20% of Americans believe abortion should always be illegal, and 39% believe it should be legal only in a few circumstances, a combined 59% that believe it should always or usually be illegal. 25% believe abortion should always be legal, and 13% believe that it should be legal in most circumstances, a combined 38% that believe it should always or usually be legal. 4% hold no opinion. The percentage of Americans which believe abortion should always or usually be illegal has varied from a low of 51% (Sept. 6-7, 1994, and Sept. 22-24, 1995) to a high of 62% (May 2–5, 2005). Gallup has polled the question 33 times since it began asking in 1994.^[2]

Pro-Life vs. Pro-Choice[edit]

Currently, 50% of Americans describe themselves as Pro-Life, 41% describe themselves as Pro-Choice, and 4% as Mixed/Neither, as of the most recent poll (May 3–6, 2012). The percentage of Americans describing themselves as Pro-Life has varied from a low of 33% (Sept. 3-6, 1995) to a high of 51% (May 7–10, 2009). Gallup has polled the question 41 times since it began asking in 1995.^[1]

By Trimester[edit]

Gallup has asked the following question four times from 2003-2011: "Thinking more generally, do you think abortion should generally be legal or generally illegal during each of the following stages of pregnancy. How about -- [RANDOM ORDER]?"^[1]

1st Trimester[edit]

The following results were given for "In the first three months of pregnancy" (1st Trimester):

Polling Date	Should be legal	Should be illegal	Depends (vol.)	No opinion
2011, June 9–12	62%	35%	2%	1%
2003, January 10–12	66%	29%	3%	2%
2000, March 30-April 2	65%	31%	2%	2%
1996, July 25–26	64%	30%	4%	2%

2nd Trimester[edit]

The following results were given for "In the second three months of pregnancy" (2nd Trimester):

Polling Date	Should be legal	Should be illegal	Depends (vol.)	No opinion
2011, June 9–12	24%	71%	3%	2%
2003, January 10–12	25%	68%	4%	3%
2000, March 30-April 2	24%	69%	4%	3%
1996, July 25–26	26%	65%	7%	2%

3rd Trimester[edit]

The following results were given for "In the last three months of pregnancy" (3rd Trimester):

Polling Date	Should be legal	Should be illegal	Depends (vol.)	No opinion
2011, June 9–12	10%	86%	2%	1%
2003, January 10–12	10%	84%	4%	2%
2000, March 30-April 2	8%	86%	3%	3%
1996, July 25–26	13%	82%	3%	2%

By Circumstances[edit]

According to the most recent Gallup poll (June 9–12, 2011), the following percentages of Americans say abortion should be legal under each circumstance:^[1]

Circumstance	Should be legal	Should be illegal	Depends (vol.)	No opinion
When the woman's life is endangered	83%	13%	1%	3%
When the woman's physical health is endangered	82%	15%	1%	2%
When the pregnancy was caused by rape or incest	75%	22%	1%	2%
When the woman's mental health is endangered	61%	35%	2%	2%
When there is evidence the baby may be mentally impaired	51%	46%	2%	2%
When there is evidence the baby may be physically impaired	50%	45%	2%	3%
When the woman or family cannot afford to raise the child	36%	61%	1%	2%

Pro-Life Initiatives[edit]

According to Gallup's most recent poll (July 15–17, 2011) these proposals by the Pro-Life movement have received the following public support levels. Those marked "(2005)" were polled most recently on November 11–13, 2005. Those marked "(2003)" were last polled on January 10–12, 2003.^[1]

Proposal	Favor	Oppose	No opinion
(2003) A law requiring doctors to inform patients about alternatives to abortion before performing the procedure	88%	11%	1%
A law requiring doctors inform patients about possible risks of abortion before performing the procedure	87%	11%	2%
A law requiring women under 18 to get parental consent for any abortion	71%	27%	2%
A law requiring women seeking abortions to wait 24 hours before having the procedure done	69%	28%	3%
A law making partial birth abortions illegal except for life of the mother	64%	31%	5%
(2005) A law requiring that the husband of a married woman be notified if she decides to have an abortion	64%	34%	2%
A law requiring women seeking an abortion be shown an ultrasound image of her fetus at least 24 hours before	50%	46%	3%
A law letting pharmacists and health providers opt out of medicine/surgical procedures resulting in abortion	46%	51%	4%
(2005) A constitutional amendment to ban abortion in all circumstances, except to save the life of the mother	37%	61%	2%

Sources[edit]

1. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named gallupabortion
2. ↑ Gallup. "Abortion." Do you think abortion should be legal in most circumstances or only in a few circumstances?