More Americans “Pro-Life” Than “Pro-Choice” for First Time

Source: Gallup

PRINCETON, NJ -- A new Gallup Poll, conducted May 7-10, finds 51% of Americans calling themselves "pro-life" on the issue of abortion and 42% "pro-choice." This is the first time a majority of U.S. adults have identified themselves as pro-life since Gallup began asking this question in 1995.



The new results, obtained from Gallup's annual Values and Beliefs survey, represent a significant shift from a year ago, when 50% were pro-choice and 44% pro-life. Prior to now, the highest percentage identifying as pro-life was 46%, in both August 2001 and May 2002.

Read more: http://www.gallup.com/poll/118399/More-Americans-Pro-Life-Than-Pro-Choice-First-Time.aspx

And I'll bet if they polled only women, it would be more like 80% pro-choice.

Nearly half of all women voters voted for Bush in '04.

I was in polling for 8 years and that never ceased to amaze me.

I know we like to think America took a left turn over the last few years, but it hasn't. We're still the backwards nation we were four years ago, it's just that the economy is so fucked that even the value voters aren't making abortion or gay marriage the issue like in years past.

And people wonder why Obama does the things he does. He isn't stupid, he knows the limitations.

of those responding. If necessary, most women will be prochoice. Trust me on this one.

There is room for nuance. There is middle ground.

A person can be opposed to abortion in his or her own life but not in favor of using the force of law to impose that value on someone else.

I'm too old now to worry about these things, but if I were to find myself pregnant today, I sure wouldn't want anyone to insert their belief system upon me.

If that poll is accurate, I suspect it is because most of those polled never had to live in an era without choice; nor witness a close friend become sterile or die from a terrifyingly botched abortion.

I'm pro-life because I oppose the death penalty and illegal invasions. I am also pro-choice because no ass wipe legislator has any business being in an exam room w/ me & my doctor.

If they polled only women who knew that their answers were totally anonymous, it would be more like 80% pro-choice.

You don't have to like abortion, or even favor abortion, to be pro-choice.

And they never catch single working women in these stupid polls anyway.

It evidences the destruction of feminism.

And it's scary to see that so many women 'think' that government control of their bodies is just fine.

We find that more favor Hoover over FDR.

for shifts in access to the polling population fairly well so as not to replicate the '36 results.

It's a thankless job, but each of us with specialized knowledge needs to do it for the betterment of all.

Your efforts are appreciated.

:dem:

-Laelth

is to compare those results with those used by traditional means.

And to determine how the population of each varies.

Polling actually is a science and the means are always being tweaked. You find out on election day how accurate you are.

As is, the folks most likely to vote are still those most likely to answer a landline call: older, homeowners, women.

crap reception of a mobile. My favorite extension is an old ATT slimline, corded model. I've had it for 20+ years and it's never failed me. Been through at least a dozen 'cordless' phones - the latest one is getting ready to bite the dust. Worthless.

All that aside - Gallup didn't call me, because I would have helped skew their poll pro-choice . . . and I'm a middle-aged female with a landline.

Stereotypes suck.

After that, of course, it never happened again, just as president Dewey.

Many might classify themselves as pro-life, but when asked if abortion should be illegal, only 23% say it should be. 75% of Americans believe it should either be legal in all instances, or certain circumstances. Which, to me at least, doesn't seem that far off from where it's always been.

So really, if you go by this, those true pro-life nutters would not classify most of America as pro-life, since they believe in the choice at least under certain circumstances.

Even people who don't want abortion to be illegal will call themselves prolife because they think it sounds nice. It makes no difference to me what they want to call themselves as long as they don't want to take away a woman's right to choose.

Don't put it into terms like that.

Ask straight up, "Do you believe abortion should be illegal?"

Then I bet you'd see an overwhelmingly large number of Americans say no.

But that doesn't fit their argument.

Of the forms of life, Humans are the most backward when it comes to their own perpetuation. With so much known about so many things it is comical that this should even be a discussion in the year of 2009.
Let's just :banghead: because we are sure to get somewhere eventually

election over election the same issues come back, meaning that nothing get straight or done.

If you asked, "Are there situations where abortion should be illegal?", you'd likely get a plurality of people answering in the affirmative.

And there are reasons for that.

Funny how the framing of the questions influence the polls, isn't it?

What bothers me most about this is that the nutters have been extremely successful over the years in hijacking the debate and framing it in their terms.

People do NOT want abortions to happen, but want it to be legal. On the surface that sounds like a contradiction but if think about it, it is not. What people want is for abortions NOT to happen, but if needed the option be available.

The anti-choice forces have at least somewhat successfully won that PR battle. (One reason I refuse to call them "pro-life").

question and making my point. I was going to say that I thought the majority of Americans did not think Roe V Wade should be overturned and that at the very least 1st trimester abortions should be legal.

What this suggests to me is that it is possible that the anti-abortion group's stranglehold on "pro-life" (which they are not) is failing. I say we all get bummer stickers that say "I'm Pro-Life AND Pro-Choice" or maybe "Being Pro-Life makes me Pro-Choice"

father's will let their teen daughter carry a baby of some ne'er do well, who only see's the "family wealth" and how many mother's tell their sons to "tell the little bitch to have an abortion because you're not paying child support" for some one they don't think is "good enough" for their little darlings.

As 75% of Americans believe abortion should be legal in some or all instances.

I don't know why they ask if someone is pro-choice or pro-life. Those are buzz words used to push an answer. They need to be straight with those being polled and ask straight up, "Do you think abortion should be illegal?"

I'm guessing it'd be 75% no, 23% yes and the rest not quite sure.

But asking if you're pro-choice or pro-life, well I consider myself both.

Go figure.

It's a false dichotomy. It's like asking someone if they're pro-American or pro-terrorism. The Republicans have a lot of those.

And how many of the vocal, right-wing religious evangelicals would do exactly as you suggest if it were one of their daughters?

They just do it quietly, of course.

Or they have cancer or some other condition and neither they nor the child will live if the pregnancy continues. Or their child is 12.

implode and end democracy once and for all. These pendulum swings make me dizzy & off-balance anyway.

................I would worry that with the country seeming to shift somewhat left, for a number of reasons, that this poll tends to refute that. I have no idea why that is, but I would be at least a little concerned about it and maybe look a little closer at the so called social issues. The pendulum just started to swing "our" way, and I would hate to think that it has begun to swing back. Something to definitely to keep an eye on.

optimistic about McCain's chances than most other polls. I would not rely on it.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/629/629/7360265.stm

pnorman

There are several responses in this thread like that. But of course, if they agree with the results of a poll, then suddenly it's an accurate poll.

............for at least the last 10 yrs, and look what it got them. Look at them today, they're a laughingstock. We cannot get complacent. If there is a reason for this, we better know about it now and prepare for it, rather than in 2012 or maybe even 2010.

for the GOP that spells TROUBLE!!!

"in all circumstances" in that question is not helpful in approaching an understanding of the issue at all, as there are some aspects to consider, fraught with significance.

Sometimes people are driven to do things that are formally immoral/sinful, in utter desperation (it is surely happening all over the world all the time, in many different ways), and consequently, it might well not be considered an actual sin in many, if not most of such cases; but it's not a good idea to condone such actions as a general principle. Even though the anarcho-right seem to discount the word of God entirely, judged on their behaviour, it is good that they are, at least, hypocrites, that they pay some kind of tribute to virtue, for that reason. Unfortunately, the other side of the coin is that they cause scandal by the degree of their hypocrisy and contribute to a loss of faith in other people. In this case, great concern for life within the womb and utter contempt, even hatred for it, once born and outside the womb.

We also know that there are many who live a life of ease and maybe opulence who do evil things all the time which society, the World, acclaims; and often they will focus on personal morality (that of others), as though their own even merely condoning economic of injustice and oppression were not grave sins.

There is no reason for a shift in public opinion this large without some event driving it, and there has been no such event.

In addition, there has been a strong shift away from organized religion, and that means away from churches and fulminating preachers ranting about the evils of abortion. The message is getting out to fewer people.

You can get any answer you want depending on how you phrase the question and/or which people you decide to ask.

It's an exception to the shift.

"anti choice" works too.

I'm pro-choice... I feel strongly that abortion should be keep legal and safe. I'm also pro-life but I'm pro ALL viable (not potential) human life... including the innocents who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan and the soldiers sent over to die (or who came home and killed themselves) over a war based on lies.

It's all terminology and those of us who are pro-choice need to try harder to get it out that it's not "pro-choice/pro-abortion vs pro-life/anti-abortion"... the fact is that we're all pro-life and even some of those who are very pro-choice are anti-abortion. The bottom line that this truly boils down to is that it's... pro-choice vs NO choice.

they were called anti-abortionists then the GOP decided it sounded too harsh so they changed it to "pro-life". They love war, executing inmates, hunting animals and destroying flora so I'd hardly call them "pro-life"

If they rape you, you're gonna have to pay to get the evidence to bring charges.
If you haven't got any money you're fair game.
And they'll make you bear the rapists' children too.

Do women have control over their bodies or not? Does government interfere in private medical decisions or not?

Interesting timing.

and still some on the left turn into foaming at the mouth Limbaugh dittoheads when the Fairness Doctrine is brought up...because of the right wing's disinformation campaign about something that gave us the closest thing we've ever had to real democracy for 40 years.

Let's assume temporarily that Gallup's polling methods are robust and that asking someone whether she's pro-choice or pro-life is an accurate way to gauge her position on abortion.

Over the entire period shown in the graph, the largest shift *ever* in support for either position from one year to the next was four points. But this year, "pro-life" went up seven points and "pro-choice" went down eight points. It makes me suspect something weird is going on -- such a large swing is inconsistent with the previous behavior of the poll.

Any polling experts have a theory?

I'd like an explanation of the sudden and massive shift in opinion. I suppose, like the above poster said, that the Souter retirement announcement might cause some more vocal opinion-mongering, but that's like a 15% shift in public opinion in one year. I don't see it.

Any (23%) or Some (53%) circumstances ( see lower down same page on link)

P

It is possible to be against abortion but not in favor of banning it. Under Roe v. Wade the states have considerable wiggle room for regulating abortion, and they have done so. Here in California abortions can only be performed by licensed practitioners (as is probably the case in the other 49 states), and can be done only at the request of the woman. In the third trimester, abortion can be done legally only under a specific set of medical reasons.

To me that means the system we have in place now is not broken.

It is possible to be against abortion but not in favor of banning it.

This is not strange to me at all.

It's not strange to any reasonable (IMO) person.

And as demonstrated by reply #66, there are people on the extreme end of the pro-choice side who can't accept it either.

Even in the third trimester the government should stay away from her right to choose. such crap!


nnnnm

Pathetic. Totalitarian. Something I guess I should expect after having king george strip the national rights - patriot acts. Now I guess people have gotten used to that and have no issue with walking on others' freedom. Torture, waterboarding, wire tapping - it all led up to acceptance of stripping peoples rights. This.

What next? Ban abortion? Put all the rest of the rights women gained after that landmark decision backwards and then force everyone to follow one religion? Why not? Since apparently a whole lot of people now believe others should do what they(willing repressors) wish and not choose for themselves.

This issue tends to ebb and flow, rather than consistently move like racial or homosexual issues. Among my generation it's more likely to oppose abortion than gay marriage from what I've noticed.

I'm sorry, but there's no reason for that graph to reflect reality.

Republicans Move to the Right

The source of the shift in abortion views is clear in the Gallup Values and Beliefs survey. The percentage of Republicans (including independents who lean Republican) calling themselves "pro-life" rose by 10 points over the past year, from 60% to 70%, while there has been essentially no change in the views of Democrats and Democratic leaners.





Similarly, by ideology, all of the increase in pro-life sentiment is seen among self-identified conservatives and moderates; the abortion views of political liberals have not changed.



Seems to me that the only thing that happened is that the far RW has become more reactionary. Ya think that Black Man in the WH has anything to do with it? Do you think more moderates are really going to vote pro life all of a sudden?

numbers will "grow" if you are sampling Republicans. No shift in the Dems means that is probably where the moderates landed.

This poll implies moderate pro-choice people are leaving the Republican party, which we already knew.

edit: We also already know that Gallup oversamples Republicans, and as their party's numbers continue to diminish it doesn't look like Gallop has bothered to make any updates to their sampling percentage. That's why their McCain numbers were so far off.

K & R the above post.

conservatives run it.

I do not think for a second that more people are 'pro-life' than pro-choice, I really do not see a majority of women coming to that conclusion. Polls in general are deceptive.

but many think that it is, I could classified my self as Pro-choice and Pro-live,
Pro-Choice because I believe that women have the right to decide for them selves and pro-live because I don't believe abortion is a contraceptive method, I would prefer education before a pregnancy.

If she chooses to have 17 abortions then who the fuck should tell her she cant. Not me! how about you?



nnnm

and think that it won cause her any side effects, it's her decision not mine, but also should my taxes pay for her decision of not using a condom or the pill?

nnnm

the question remains the same, should our tax pay for irresponsible egocentric decisions?

Then we'll see who's pro-choice. Argh sometimes people in general are so stupid - prolife my ass - they should be called ANTI-CHOICE and nothing else.

Gallup lacks the art in their polls that some of the better ones show. Most of the time people need to be led into objectivity. The correct question to ask is a yes or no question. Do you think the decision of being pro-life or pro-choice should be left up to each individual woman? You see my answer there would be yes, yet to Gallup's question my answer is pro-life, it's in the language I think.

K&R to get the word to the Greatest Page - NOT cause I like the stats. :(

Even is the poll was off by as much at 5% (which is highly unlikely) this is a disturbing trend. Conservatives would love for us to stick our heads in the sand and do nothing. The reality is this trend can lead to less demand for clinics where abortion is available which will in effect lead to a backdoor ban on abortion. Who cares if its legal if there is no one to do it. Thats why that safe, rare and legal is such bullshit. There is no reason why we should see a decrease in abortion. A woman should have access to abortion from 0 - 9 months.


-nnnm

People no longer see it as an empty catchphrase...

They apparently do this once a year - I'm sure if there were daily polls, you'd find an occasionally anomaly in either direction once in awhile. I'm not generally one to ignore bad news... but at this point, it's not enough data to suggest a true trend.

Source: AP

NEW YORK – A Gallup Poll released Friday found that 51 percent of Americans now call themselves pro-life rather than pro-choice on the issue of abortion, the first time a majority gave that answer in the 15 years that Gallup has asked the question.

The findings, obtained in an annual survey on values and beliefs conducted May 7-10, marked a significant shift from a year ago. A year ago, 50 percent said they were pro-choice and 44 percent pro-life — in the new poll, 42 percent said they were pro-choice.

The new survey showed that Americans remained deeply divided on the legality of abortion — with 23 percent saying it should be illegal in all circumstances, 22 percent saying it should be legal under any circumstances, and 53 percent saying it should be legal only under certain circumstances.

The findings echoed a recent national survey by the Pew Research Center, which reported a sharp decline since last August in those saying abortion should be legal in all or most cases — from 54 percent to 46 percent.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090515/ap_on_re_us/us_abortion_poll

---

I don't believe this poll.

It's more than the conception and gestation points...

Seriously, this is not a good development.

Here's more in detailed, as it was conducted and published by Gallup, who did the polling.

:shrug:



Gallup also found public preferences for the extreme views on abortion about even -- as they are today -- in 2005 and 2002, as well as during much of the first decade of polling on this question from 1975 to 1985. Still, the dominant position on this question remains the middle option, as it has continuously since 1975: 53% currently say abortion should be legal only under certain circumstances.

When the views of this middle group are probed further -- asking these respondents whether they believe abortion should be legal in most or only a few circumstances -- Gallup finds the following breakdown in opinion.




Republicans Move to the Right

The source of the shift in abortion views is clear in the Gallup Values and Beliefs survey. The percentage of Republicans (including independents who lean Republican) calling themselves "pro-life" rose by 10 points over the past year, from 60% to 70%, while there has been essentially no change in the views of Democrats and Democratic leaners.







http://www.gallup.com/poll/118399/More-Americans-Pro-Life-Than-Pro-Choice-First-Time.aspx

Life is good. Life for the mother. And the right for the mother to choose what is right in her life and her circumstance in regards to her pregnancy. I call that a pro-life choice.

It is one thing to point out that this poll seems to denote a change but it doesn't do anything to explain why there would be such a dramatic shift especially when you consider that the electorate just voted in the party that supports the pro-choice position. What happened in the last year that would have made that many people change their view?

and medicaid and other assistance programs for the folks they think should have to have these babies?

That has to be a slanted poll.

It's all about the framing.

Hey, if they're "pro-life"!!...

...at least under some circumstances.

It really comes down to a few more people saying, in essence "I don't like abortion, but I don't think it should be outlawed" -- which has pretty much always been the majority opinion in the U.S.

http://stattrek.com/AP-Statistics-2/Survey-Sampling-Methods.aspx?Tutorial=AP

Hell they made a TV show about it. It's so noble and awesome to make babies.

Isn't this CONVENIENT that is's comming out now with the Obama's Supreme Nominations due...

Sorry, YOU LOST repukes, now it's time turn TURN THE CLOCK BACK TO "NORMAL" from BAT SHIT CRAZY...