Sunday, October 18, 2009

Support for Abortion Waning

According to a recent report from the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, support for legalized abortion in the United States has been losing ground. 44% of Americans now feel that abortion should be illegal all or at least most of the time. Less than half of Americans (47%) now believe that it should be legal in all or most cases.

This study demonstrates a shift in thinking when it comes to the issue of abortion. In recent years, the majority of Americans supported the legal status of abortion but these recent numbers indicate that the country is now more evenly divided on the matter.

In commenting on these findings the Pew Center doesn't identify any single issue that has affected the change:
"No single reason for the shift in opinions is apparent, but the pattern of changes suggests that the election of a pro-choice Democrat for president may be a contributing factor. Among Republicans, there has been a seven point decline in support for legal abortion and a corresponding six point increase in opposition to abortion. But the change is smaller among Democrats, whose support for legal abortion is down four points with no corresponding increase in pro-life opinion. Indeed, three groups of President Obama’s strongest supporters – African Americans, young people and those unaffiliated with a religion – have not changed their views on abortion at all. At the same time, fully half of conservative Republicans (52%) – the political group most opposed to abortion – say they worry Obama will go too far in supporting abortion rights."
It will be interesting to see if this trend continues and what changes will occur if a majority of Americans become opposed to abortion rights. You can read more about the report here.

3 comments:

J. Hill said...

I am glad to see that more people are coming to their senses and recognizing that life is life. To those would say they have a right to abortion I say this, LIFE is the FIRST CIVIL RIGHT!

Michael Lantz said...

I am glad to see that the American People are waking up to infanticide realizing that it is wrong.I am glad to see that abortion is a terrible sin against God.That must be a terrible to the Pro-Choice crowd.

Anonymous said...

I support choice. I support those that are already born. I think that those that support choice are relatively quiet these days, because we don't feel as threatened that Roe will be overturned.