Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
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America’s Abortion Quandary
Modest gender differences in views of whether abortion should be legal
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- America’s Abortion Quandary
- Majority of adults say abortion should be legal in some cases, illegal in others
- Majority of abortion rights supporters say how long a woman has been pregnant should matter in determining legality of abortion
- Many who generally oppose abortion nevertheless say it should be legal in certain situations
- One-in-three adults say both that human life begins at conception and that the decision to have an abortion belongs solely to the woman
- Americans’ views of abortion, 1995-2022
- A majority says abortion should be legal if mother’s life or health at risk; just one-in-ten say it should be illegal in this case
- More than half of U.S. adults say stage of pregnancy should be factor in determining legality of abortion
- Opposition to legal abortion increases at later stages of pregnancy; at 24 weeks, roughly twice as many adults say abortion should be illegal as say it should be legal
- Majority of adults say a doctor who performs an abortion ‘in a situation where it is illegal’ should face penalties
- Majorities of Democrats and Republicans say abortion should be legal in some cases, illegal in others
- Modest gender differences in views of whether abortion should be legal
- White evangelicals more likely than other Christians to say religion is very important in shaping their abortion views
- White evangelicals are generally opposed to legal abortion, while religious ‘nones’ are broadly supportive, but majorities across groups say it should sometimes be legal, sometimes not
- Substantial support for legal abortion if pregnancy threatens woman’s health
- Coronavirus Pandemic 2021 –