Though partisanship remains a far bigger factor than gender in U.S. abortion attitudes, the opinions of men and women have diverged somewhat in recent years – particularly on the question of legality.
- Today, nearly two-thirds of women (64%) say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, while 34% say it should be illegal in all or most cases.
- By contrast, 55% of men say abortion should be legal, and 44% say it should be illegal.
The 9-point gender gap in the shares expressing support for legal abortion is as wide as we’ve seen in the last two decades. Over much of that time, there were no significant gender differences on this question.
This largely reflects the emergence of a gap between Republican and Republican-leaning men and women.
Among Republicans
Majorities of Republican men and women continue to say abortion should be illegal in all or most cases, but those majorities differ in size: Two-thirds of Republican men say this, compared with 58% of Republican women.
Among Democrats
By contrast, similar overwhelming majorities of both women (85%) and men (83%) who identify as Democrats or Democratic leanerssay abortion should be legal in all or most cases.
Other abortion attitudes
There is also a sizable gender gap on the statement, “The decision about whether to have an abortion should belong solely to the pregnant woman.”
- Nearly six-in-ten women (58%) say this describes their views extremely or very well. Fewer men (45%) say the same.
Republican women (38%) are more likely than Republican men (25%) to say this statement describes their views extremely or very well. There is no significant gap between Democratic women (74%) and men (70%).
There is not a meaningful gender difference on the statement, “Human life begins at conception, so an embryo is a person with rights.” Roughly four-in-ten men and women overall say this statement describes their views extremely or very well.
Men and women do hold somewhat different attitudes on accessibility of abortion and the legality of medication abortion.
Accessibility of abortion
Men are more likely than women to say abortion should be harder to obtain in the area they live in (32% vs. 22%), while women are more likely to say it should be easier (34% vs. 28%). Roughly equal shares of each – about four-in-ten – say the process should be about what it is now.
Medication abortion
By wide margins, both men and women say medication abortion should be legal in their state rather than illegal. But women (57% legal vs. 24% illegal) are somewhat more likely to say this than men (52% vs. 29%).
For more on views of medication abortion, read “Majority of Americans say medication abortion should be legal.”
