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    How Important is the Abortion Issue?

    The public is split on whether abortion is a critical or important issue or whether it is not that important an issue. But this masks stark differences in opinion between regular churchgoers and those who attend religious services less often.

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    Obama’s Second Term Goals and Public Opinion

    President Obama on Monday laid out his second term priorities, naming a range of issues: the social safety net, entitlement programs, income inequality, climate change, gay rights and immigration reform. Here is what our surveys have found about public opinion on these topics.

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    Mixed Reactions to Obama’s Gun Proposals

    Overview With the public paying close attention to the national debate over gun control, Barack Obama’s gun proposals receive a mixed rating from the public. A 39% plurality say Obama’s proposals are about right while another 13% say they do not go far enough. About three-in-ten (31%) say the president’s proposals go too far; 17% […]

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    Public Opinion on Abortion and Roe v. Wade

    Public Opinion on Abortion and Roe v. Wade 2013-01-18 Jan. 22, 2013, is the 40th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion. A quarter of the U.S. public (25%) sees abortion as morally wrong and would like to have the decision completely overturned, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey.

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    Obama’s Approval Ratings Over his First Term

    President Obama is in a strong position at the start of his second term. At 52%, his job approval rating is among the highest since the earliest months of his presidency. But it has certainly had its ups and downs. Our chart below displays Obama’s job approval ratings from Pew Research Center polls combined with […]

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    Obama’s Gun Policy Announcement

    President Obama and Vice President Joseph Biden Wednesday unveiled their proposals for preventing the kind of mass shootings that most recently occurred at an elementary school in Newtown, Ct. Here are some of our public opinion findings that relate to some of what they had to say.

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    Roe v. Wade at 40: Most Oppose Overturning Abortion Decision

    As the 40th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision approaches, the public remains opposed to completely overturning the historic ruling on abortion. More than six-in-ten (63%) say they would not like to see the court completely overturn the Roe v. Wade decision.

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    Abortion Research Package

    A Pew Forum research package includes results from a new public opinion survey, a slideshow on how opinion differs among various demographic groups, a discussion of the legal issues and a summary of religious groups’ positions. POLL January 2013 Roe v. Wade at 40: Most Oppose Overturning Abortion Decision As the 40th anniversary of the […]

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Signature Reports

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Beyond Red vs. Blue: The Political Typology

Our typology sorts the public into nine groups based on their political and cultural values, not their party – painting a picture of American politics with far more than two colors.

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Political Typology 2026

Take our quiz to find out which one of our nine political typology groups is your best match.

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