Poll: Most Pro-Choice Americans Still 'Conservative' on Abortion

By Ethan Cole, Christian Post Reporter Wednesday, May 23, 2007

WASHINGTON – The majority of Americans who think that abortion should be legal still held some reservations on specific circumstances where they believe the practice should be illegal.

A new Gallup poll showed that although the majority of Americans consider themselves as pro-choice (49 percent) – compared to 45 percent who called themselves pro-life – most agreed that abortion should have restrictions. Only about three out of ten people (26 percent) believe abortion should be legal under any circumstance.

The dominant opinion that abortion should be legalized with restrictions is nothing new. Gallup observed that the trend of most Americans falling into the middle group has occurred since 1975.

The survey was conducted a month after the Supreme Court upheld a 2003 law banning partial-birth abortion - a procedure that involves partially removing the fetus intact body-first from the mother's uterus, followed by crushing or cutting the skull of the fetus and then sucking out the baby's brain.

According to another recent poll, most Americans (72 percent) support the Supreme Court banning partial-birth or late-term abortion.

Overall, it was noted that Americans were "fairly evenly" split on the abortion issue with slightly more Americans tending to be pro-choice.

The survey will also be useful as the presidential candidates discuss their views on abortion as the election nears. The abortion issue has always played an important role in the race although it may not be the sole deciding factor for many voters.

For Gallup's annual Values and Belief survey, telephone interviews were conducted May 10-13 with 1,003 national adults aged 18 and older.