Among Republicans, support for fetal rights is 72 to 22 percent. Among independents, support is 47 to 41 percent. Among Democrats, 58 percent identify as "pro-choice" and 34 percent consider themselves "pro-life."
This historic poll comes after significant efforts by Republicans to restrict abortion at the state level since their victories in the 2010 midterm elections. Recently, Democrats have tried to label these attempts and Republican support for the Catholic Church against the Obama administration's efforts to force them to buy contraception a "war on women."
According to the new Gallup poll, however, most Americans do not want a complete ban on induced abortion. Rather, the average American believes that abortion should be "legal only under certain circumstances." Only 25 percent of Americans believe that abortion should be "legal under any circumstances." Though the poll was not specific, "certain circumstances" usually refers to legalized abortion in cases of maternal life or health, rape, incest, and fetal defects.
Each year, there are about 1.2 million induced abortions in the United States, most of which are elective.
NSG, why do you think support for the American right-to-life movement is growing?
'Pro-Choice' Americans At Record Low, Poll Finds
The percent of Americans who identify as "pro-choice" regarding legalized abortion is at a new low of 41 percent, according to a newly released Gallup poll. The figure is one percent lower than the previous all-time low registered by Gallup, which was in May 2009.
The decline appears to fall along party lines, with the percent of Republicans identifying as "pro-choice" decreasing from 28 percent last May, to 22 percent in this most recent poll. Democrats remain somewhat consistent, around 60 percent identify as pro-choice.
Pro-choice and pro-life was the language used in the Gallup poll questionnaire.
Potentially troubling for Democrats heading into the fall is the drop among voters who are registered as Independents identifying as "pro-choice." The survey found 41 percent of Independents identified as "pro-choice," while 47 percent identified as "pro-life," marking only the second time since 2001 that the number of "pro-life" Independents has outweighed the number of "pro-choice" Independents.
The reason for the shift in numbers is unclear, but the potential political implications may not actually be that great.
When polled on the question of legality, 52 percent of Americans said they believe that abortion should be legal "in certain circumstances." That number remains consistent with polling from May 2011.
Gallup found that 25 percent believe that abortion should be legal "in all cases," while 20 percent believe it should be illegal "in all cases." Those numbers are also consistent with polling from the same time last year.
Link: http://news.yahoo.com/pro-choice-americans-record-low-poll-finds-162145636--abc-news-politics.html
