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%).

## Contents

* 1 Legal or Illegal
* 2 Pro-Life vs. Pro-Choice
* 3 By Trimester
* 3.1 1st Trimester
* 3.2 2nd Trimester
* 3.3 3rd Trimester
* 4 By Circumstances
* 5 Pro-Life Initiatives
* 6 Sources

### 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?