Support For Abortion At Record Low
Today, a new Gallup poll was released that shows Americans continue to identify less with the pro-abortion side of the debate on life. In the poll, a record low 41% of Americans identified themselves as pro-choice, while 50% of Americans now identify themselves as pro-life. Gallup has been tracking the pro-choice vs. pro-life position of Americans since 1995. Support for the pro-choice position has steadily eroded from 56% in 1995 to the new low of 41%, while the pro-life position has increased from 33% in 1995 to 50% today.
One of the more interesting parts of the poll is the breakdown among Republicans, Democrats, and independents on this issue since 2001. Republicans have consistently identified as pro-life, but the margin of support over the pro-choice position has steadily increased. Democrats, on the other hand, have consistently supported the pro-choice position, but while Republicans support pro-life over pro-choice by a 50% margin, Democrats only support the pro-choice position by a 24% margin. The biggest shift, though, has occurred among independents. While generally independents have favored the pro-choice position since 2001, the poll now shows that independents support the pro-life position by 6% and that support for the pro-choice position among independents is at an all time low of 41%
The poll also asked Americans about their moral views of abortion and the results continue to indicate that a majority of Americans view abortion as immoral with 51% viewing abortion as morally wrong and only 38% viewing abortion as morally acceptable.
While we are often slow to put too much faith in “polls”, it is exciting to see the pro-life movement continue to gain ground in America as we have seen evidence in other areas that is confirmed by this poll. It is certainly due, in part, to the tireless work of pro-life groups and activists, pregnancy resource centers, churches and many others sharing the message at the local, state and federal level that every unborn child is worthy of protection and dignity. Texas continues to lead on pro-life issues, with our recently passed Sonogram Law serving as a great example, and hopefully others states will continue to push for similar laws. The sonogram image continues to be a powerful reminder of the reality of human life in the womb and is certainly a main reason why the pro-abortion side continues to fight so hard to prevent women from having the right to view their sonogram.
It’s also heartening to see the pro-life message increasingly resonating with self-indentified independents. As this is a presidential election year, reaching out to independents becomes a critical part of the presidential campaign. With President Obama in lockstep support of the radical pro-abortion agenda, this certainly will have an impact on the ability of his message to resonate with what is increasingly a pro-life America.