Americans Not Comfortable With Easy Abortions

It may not be surprising if you didn’t hear about a poll earlier this year from the Marist Institute for Public Opinion.  Had the results been the opposite of what they were, it likely would have been headline news across the nation for several days.

The poll found that a majority of Americans, even those who call themselves “pro-choice” favor public policies and laws restricting abortion.  This is a concept that seems foreign to the Obama Administration, which has appeared to use its power to promote and fund abortion in every way possible.

The national poll of 1,686 Americans found that 44 percent identify as pro-life while 51 percent identify as pro-choice.    The poll found that 81 percent of Americans, including 82 percent of women and 66 percent of pro-choice individuals, would legally limit abortion to only being legal the first three months of pregnancy. This eight in ten number has been consistent in this annual survey since it began in 2008.

A very interesting and encouraging finding was that 55 percent of Americans would agree that abortion ultimately does a woman more harm than good.  More than one-in-four (27 percent) Americans who identify as pro-choice share this view.  Additionally, six in ten Americans say abortion is “morally wrong,” including one-third of pro-choice Americans.  ( I am not  sure how you support something you say is morally wrong, but that’s very much a part of our postmodern, truth is relative, culture.)

Opposition to use of taxpayer dollars to fund abortion has consistently been high in various polls. The Marist poll found that 68 percent of Americans oppose taxpayer funding of abortion.  Just over half (51 percent) of those who consider themselves pro-choice oppose tax-funded abortions.  Only three in 10 Americans (29 percent) support it.

The poll also touched on the issue of religious freedom, which is increasingly intermingled with the abortion debate. It found that 51 percent of all Americans believe health care providers should have the right to opt out of providing abortion services if they have moral objections.