Gallup Poll: Just 28 Percent of Americans Take Pro-Abortion Position

Life News ^ | 5/30/08 | Steven Ertelt

[wagglebee]

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A new Gallup poll finds just 28 percent of Americans take a pro-abortion position on the question of when abortions should be allowed. Another 71 percent of Americans either want all abortions to be illegal or want them limited to certain rare circumstances.

Gallup asked the polling question on an annual basis and it found the abortion levels are holding steady in each of the three categories.

Some 28 percent of Americans say abortions should be "legal under any circumstances" and that figure is up two percent form last year but down two percent from 2006.

Gallup found 17 percent of Americans want abortion illegal in all circumstances, a decrease of one percent from 2007 and an increase of two percent from 2006.

Most Americans fall in the category of wanting abortions to be legal in some circumstances and illegal in others -- with 54 percent saying so this year compared with 55 percent in 2007 and 53 percent in 2006.

However, Gallup doesn't ask a follow-up question to determine when those circumstances occur.

Most Americans typically say they want abortions allowed in cases to save the life of the mother, rape or incest, if the unborn child has life-ending physical problems, or other rare circumstances. In all other circumstances, most Americans say abortions shouldn't be allowed.

According to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, the research arm of Planned Parenthood, those types of "hard cases" constitute less than two or three percent of all abortions annually.

As a result, it appears 71 percent of Americans oppose, and want illegal, either all or 97-98 percent of all abortions in the United States.

Other polls are somewhat more instructive, yet still don't give enough specificson when abortion should be legal or illegal.

A January 2007 CBS News poll found a majority of Americans want to prohibit abortions in all or most cases or want greater restrictions on abortions. The poll results are consistent with the results from 2006 when more than half of those polled wanted to make abortion illegal all or most of the time.

The poll was conducted from January 18-21 and it surveyed 1,168 adults nationwide.

The survey asked respondents to give their "personal feeling" about abortion and asked them whether they wanted abortion to be always permitted, subject to greater restrictions, allowed only in cases of rape, incest or saving the life of the mother, or only allowed to save the life of the mother.

CBS News did not ask respondents whether they thought abortion should never be allowed, although it tabulated the results of those who volunteered that answer.

According to the CBS News poll, 47 percent of Americans want to prohibit all or most abortions and 16 percent want them to be greatly restricted.

About 30 percent of those polled want to limit abortions to the very rare cases of rape, incest or life of the mother and another 12 percent want abortions allowed only in when the pregnancy threatens the mother's life. Another 5 percent said abortions should always be illegal.

Just 31 percent of the public wants to permit abortion in all cases.

[wagglebee]

Most Americans typically say they want abortions allowed in cases to save the life of the mother, rape or incest, if the unborn child has life-ending physical problems, or other rare circumstances. In all other circumstances, most Americans say abortions shouldn't be allowed.

According to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, the research arm of Planned Parenthood, those types of "hard cases" constitute less than two or three percent of all abortions annually.

As a result, it appears 71 percent of Americans oppose, and want illegal, either all or 97-98 percent of all abortions in the United States.

And the media will NEVER report this!

[wagglebee]

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[wagglebee]

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[DarthVader]

This is great to see, but they need to start to vote this way.

[NittanyLion]

Most Americans typically say they want abortions allowed in cases to save the life of the mother, rape or incest, if the unborn child has life-ending physical problems, or other rare circumstances. In all other circumstances, most Americans say abortions shouldn't be allowed.

I'd like to believe this is true, but it appears the writer forgot about partial birth abortions. I suspect a large percentage of folks who say abortion is okay "some of the time" would prevent third trimester abortions only.

[Steely Tom]

Just 28 Percent of Americans Take Pro-Abortion Position

I'm sorry, but I find this extremely difficult to believe. I do hope it's true, believe me.

[UndauntedR]

Yup, that looks like the case. It appears that this is what they’re sourcing:

http://www.gallup.com/poll/1576/Abortion.aspx

Given all the info, the article is pretty spun...

[longtermmemmory]

We live in the modern politics of push poling used to make news.

Fake polls created so CNN and thier ilk and verbatim repeat DNC talking points to shape opinion rather than report facts.

[wagglebee]

We live in the modern politics of push poling used to make news.

Fake polls created so CNN and thier ilk and verbatim repeat DNC talking points to shape opinion rather than report facts.

All of this is true; however, organizations like Gallup will NEVER do a push poll or any other type of poll that is skewed to show LESS support for abortion than actually exists.

[longtermmemmory]

sorry but I don’t buy that.

[stravinskyrules]

This is a very loose interpretation of this poll.

Of course being this is from 'Life News" one would expect it to be.

Every poll I've ever seen reads that this is by far a pro-choice country.

However, the left does not want to let anyone know that most Americans do not object to some restriction of one form or another.

[Skooz]

bump

[GloriaJane]

"How Many Babies Are Crying In Heaven Tonight"

This mp3 is from my BITTER SWEET Album. I keep a download link on my profile page. I give it away free to my fellow Free Republic pro-life posters who want a copy.

[Always Right]

And the media will NEVER report this!

They report it, they just twist it to anyone who supports any exception as being pro-abortion. Being Pro-Life is still the number 1 vote getter there is.

[Always Right]

This is great to see, but they need to start to vote this way.

They do. Being pro-life usually nets a candidate about 7% against a pro-death candidate. The #1 net vote gain for any issue.

[Always Right]

sorry but I don’t buy that.

It is consistant with all previous polling. It is all where you draw the line on being pro-abortion or pro-life. Most are in the middle, they are mostly pro-life but yet they still favor abortion in cases of rape or life of mother. Some polls put those in the pro-abortion camp and others in the pro-life camp. If you poll on issues like parental consent, late-term abortion, using abortion as contraception, the vast majority side with the pro-life side.

[wagglebee]

This is a very loose interpretation of this poll.

Of course being this is from 'Life News" one would expect it to be.

I notice that you are new here and it is also possible that I am misinterpreting your post. However, you should know that Free Republic is a CONSERVATIVE, PRO-LIFE forum.

[Oztrich Boy]

Alternative Headline Just 17 Percent of Americans Want Abortion to be Illegal

[Das Outsider]

Most Americans typically say they want abortions allowed in cases to save the life of the mother, rape or incest, if the unborn child has life-ending physical problems, or other rare circumstances.

Is this a package deal? In other words, if one agrees that abortion should be illegal in the case or rape or incest, did they count that in the above category, even if the respondent would allow exceptions in the case of life-saving measures?

The earlier CBS poll did make those distinctions.

[ClarenceThomasfan]

I was watching some news show and the hosts were proclaiming how pro-abortion the country was.

I was yelling at the tv, “No it’s not. We are pro-life.” I believe the country is mostly pro-life and through technology such as sonograms, even young people are becoming more pro-life.

[Das Outsider]

I was watching some news show and the hosts were proclaiming how pro-abortion the country was.

Nothing these days would surprise me, but I'm sure they employed a little fudgery with the numbers and categories. One can spin "opposed to abortion except in some cases" to suggest a position in favor of it under certain circumstances. And sometimes, they just use bad information.

A poll asking just why one is for or against abortion rights--including the legal distinctions--might make for a more interesting gauge of public opinion.

[fetal heart beats by 21st day]

Nope. They will simply bury it.

[8mmMauser]

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8mm