Abortion Statistics - Comments?

January 5, 2004 | watchdog_writer

[watchdog_writer]

  Surveys show a solid majority of Americans still support the right to abortion in some form, but the number of those who would impose conditions on that right is growing[1]

            According to a year 2000 Gallup Poll:

Most American adults (51%) currently believe that abortions should be legal under some circumstances. 

          28% believe that abortions should be legal under all circumstances. 

          19% believe that they should be always illegal -- apparently even to save the life of the woman.

The same poll reveals that 50% of adults identify themselves as pro-choice; 40% as pro-life.[2

Average ABC News poll data: 1995 to 2001:

ABC News conducts an annual poll asking American adults whether they support or oppose access by women to legal abortion. They report that:

 "Support for legal abortion has moved within an eight-point band since this question was first asked in July 1995, from 60 percent to 52 percent, with no clear pattern." 

 "Opposition has ranged from 36 percent to 43 percent."

 "Averaging can help provide clarity: Support for legal abortion has averaged 56 percent in a dozen polls the last five years; opposition, 41 percent." 1

 

ABC News - Washington Post poll: 2001-JAN:

A BBC News report for 2001-JAN-23 summarized what it called a "new" ABC News - Washington Post poll of American adults which "suggests that most Americans are broadly supportive of current abortion laws."

 59% said abortion should be legal in all or most cases

 14% said it should be illegal in all cases. 

46% of all Republicans said they supported a woman's right to choose an abortion in most cases. 2

 

 ABC News poll of 2001-JUN:

TThe poll was conducted between JUN-20 and JUN-24. It has a margin of error of 3 percentage points. 1

 52% feel that abortion should be legal in all or most cases; 

 43% say it should be illegal in all or most cases.

 63% of born-again or evangelical Protestants oppose abortion access.

 66% of other white Protestants support abortion access. 

The main factor that determines their belief:

Among those who oppose abortion access, 50% base their belief mainly on religious influences.

 Factor

Support access/ Oppose access/ All adults

Religious beliefs 9% 50% 27%

Personal beliefs 35 19 28

Education 22 9 16

Personal experience 10 8  

News sources 8 3  

Family and friends 4 4  

Other 13 6  

 Variation with religious belief:

As noted above, there is a major gulf between Evangelical and mainline/liberal Protestants. In spite of their church's strong stance against abortion, Catholics seem to be indistinguishable from the rest of the population.

 

Group Abortions should be all or mostly legal/ Abortions should be all or mostly illegal All adults 52% 43% Evangelical white Protestants 34 63 Catholics 55 43 Non-Evangelical white Protestants 66 33 Political ideology: As expected, self-identified liberals are far more supportive of abortion access than are conservatives:   Group Abortions should be all or mostly legal/ Abortions should be all or mostly illegal Liberal 75% 23% Moderates 57% 39% Conservatives 34% 63%   Party affiliation: As expected, Democrats and Independents are far more supportive of abortion access than are Republicans:   Party Abortions should be all or mostly legal /Abortions should be all or mostly illegal Democrats 59% 37% Independents 59 36 Republicans 40 58   Additional differences were found. Older persons, people with less education, persons with lower income and Afro-Americans were more inclined to criminalize most or all abortions.   There's a range of opinion within the categories of support or opposition for legal abortion. About a fifth of Americans take each of the more extreme views — that abortion should be legal in all cases, or illegal in all cases. Just under a quarter say it should be illegal in most cases, but not all. And 31 percent say it should be legal in most cases. Evangelical white Protestants are among the groups most likely to say abortion should
	be illegal in all cases; 35 percent of them take that view. Again, though, this means that even among evangelicals, nearly two-thirds reject a complete ban on all abortions. About half as many Catholics, 19 percent, support making abortion illegal in all cases, as do 11 percent of non-evangelical white Protestants.  Barna Research Group poll of 2001: Barna Research is an Evangelical Christian polling group. They interviewed 1003 American adults during 2001-MAY, producing a poll with a margin of error of 3%. Results were:  18% believe that abortion should be legal in all cases.   24% believe that it should generally be legal, with a few exceptions.  32% said it should be illegal in all but a few special circumstances.  23% said it should be illegal under all circumstances, including abortions necessary to save the life of the woman.  When the poll was conducted by a Christian group, 55% of those polled opposed abortion. Does that tell you something about who’s taking the poll?  Among born-again Christians, only 9% wish that all abortions are legal; 14% said that they should be generally legal, and 73% wish that abortions were all or almost all illegal. Among Evangelical Christians, the corresponding numbers were 1%, 4%, and 94%. 3  2001-OCT: Center for Gender Equality poll: The Princeton Survey Research Associates conducted this poll. They found that "Women's opinions on the issue of abortion itself are sharply divided, and entrenched:" 4 Stand Percentage  Abortion access should be unlimited 34% Abortion access should be restricted 45% No response 21%
	Support for abortion on request varies significantly with educational level. Only 22% of women who did not complete high school favored freely available abortions, whereas 49% of college graduates favored this option.  Of those who want abortion access restricted in some way:  Stand Percentage  Restricted to rape, incest, or prevent the death of the woman 31% Not permitted under any circumstances, even to save the woman's life 14% Some limits on when an abortion can be performed, or minor impediments before she can have an abortion 19%  References: Gary Langer, "Support for Legal Abortion Wobbles: Religion Informs Much Opposition," ABC News, at: http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/poll010702.html "EU condemns Bush abortion move," BBC News, 2001-JAN-23, at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1132127.stm "Born-again Christian oppose abortion, homosexuality, poll shows," Associated Baptist Press, at: http://www.abpnews.com/abpnews/ "Progress and Perils: How gender issues unite and divide women, Part One," Center for Gender Equality, at: http://www.advancewomen.org/ You may need software to read these files. It can be obtained free from:[3]

 

---

[1] http://www.publicagenda.org/issues/frontdoor.cfm?issue_type=abortion

[2] http://www.religioustolerance.org/abo_poll.htm

[3] http://www.religioustolerance.org/abo_poll3.htm (within box)

[mammer]

Tell the demorats that they can start voting for their unborn children and we can get rid of abortion.

[madprof98]

When you get your surveys from a pro-abortion website, you find a whole lot of people out there supporting abortion. Go to a pro-life website, and you'll get a whole different set of surveys.

[Marie]

The way this reads, 19% think that a woman should sacrifice herself to a tubal or intestinal pregnancy. I can't believe that it's so high.

[bahblahbah]

There are liars, Democrats, and Democrat statisticians.

I didn't read through it much but my personal opinion is let the states decide what they want. I'm for abortion if continuing to have the child might kill the mother. I'm for abortion for rape or incest. The morning after pill should be used if possible on rape or incest cases. Leave a one-month window from conception to allow for abortion, but make both parents do 1000 hours of community service. Increase the amount of hours by 200 for every abortion. God will punish them too. I am for teaching birth control in schools because I don't want those too stupid to know how to use birth control to reproduce.

[Slyfox]

If they were honest about their surveys they would not feel the need to spin the info the way they are spinning it.

Most American adults (51%) currently believe that abortions should be legal under some circumstances.
28% believe that abortions should be legal under all circumstances.
19% believe that they should be always illegal -- apparently even to save the life of the woman.

28% believe in abortion-on-demand for what ever reason.
19% believe that abortions should be illegal -- apparently even to save the life of the woman.

Now, look at what they said,

"apparently even to save the life of the woman"

With today's technology, no woman needs be sacrificed, so they have shown their own bias and lack of scientific knowledge. That leaves the remaining:

51% who "currently believe that abortions should be legal under some circumstances".

Do they tell you how many of those people are uncomfortable with abortion on demand? Nope. This number, if they were going to be honest with us, should explain more.

Most people are unaware that when Roe v. Wade was decided abortion-on-demand became the law of the land. Abortion at any stage of pregnancy. Most people think, when questioned honestly, that Roe limited abortion to just the first trimester. When they are told about the entire scope of Roe they say that that should not be. Babies close to viability should not be aborted.

So, if we want to look at some honest numbers they should look like this:

28% of abortions should be legal under all circumstances.
19% of abortions should be always illegal.
22.5% of abortions should not go past the 1st trimester.
22.5% of abortions should not go past the 2nd trimester.

When you add up the people who are pro-life and partially pro-life you get a whopping 70% who consider themselves pro-life to some degree. Big difference, eh?

[sassbox]

"In spite of their church's strong stance against abortion, Catholics seem to be indistinguishable from the rest of the population."

depends on how they're defining "Catholic." If you include anyone who says he or she's a Catholic even if they haven't been to church in years and don't follow most of the Church's teachings then of course you'll get that result. Poll church-going faithful Catholics, not the bozos who think they have a "right" to be considered Catholic just because they're Irish or Italian, and you'll probably find we're as pro-life as the evangelicals.

Still I would not be surprised if more than half of the people in this country are generally in favor of legal abortion :( So many people have a vested interest in keeping abortion legal because they either had abortions themselves or engage in behavior that could lead to a "need" for an abortion.

[hinckley buzzard]

Garbage In Garbage Out. Thirty years of electoral results have indicated the people's true attitudes. Without fail, an honest pro-life position, compassionately and consistently held, is worth a net plus %5 in any election for major office.