Majority of Americans Continue to Say Abortion Should Be Legal in All or Most Cases
In recent years, the public has become more likely to say obtaining an abortion in their area would be difficult.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
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America’s Abortion Quandary
A majority of Americans say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, but many are open to restrictions; many opponents of legal abortion say it should be legal in some circumstances.
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U.S. Catholics divided by party on whether Biden should be denied Communion over his abortion stance
67% of U.S. Catholics say Joe Biden should be allowed to receive Communion during Mass, while 29% say he should not be allowed to do this.
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8 key findings about Catholics and abortion
Like U.S. adults overall, the majority of U.S. Catholics say abortion should be legal – at least in some cases.
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Few U.S. sermons mention abortion, though discussion varies by religious affiliation and congregation size
Roughly one-in-five of the Christian congregations we analyzed in an eight-week period heard at least one sermon that mentioned abortion.
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With religion-related rulings on the horizon, U.S. Christians see Supreme Court favorably
Christians are more likely than religiously unaffiliated Americans to see the Supreme Court favorably (69% vs. 51%).
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Do state laws on abortion reflect public opinion?
Majorities in four of the seven states that enacted strict new abortion laws in 2019 say abortion should be illegal in all or most cases.
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U.S. Public Continues to Favor Legal Abortion, Oppose Overturning Roe v. Wade
As debates over abortion continue in states around the country, a majority of Americans (61%) continue to say that abortion should be legal in all (27%) or most (34%) cases.
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A majority of Americans think abortion will still be legal in 30 years, but with some restrictions
About three-in-four Americans believe that abortion will be legal in 2050. Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say this.
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Where the public stands on key issues that could come before the Supreme Court
Ahead of the Senate’s deliberations over Kavanaugh, here’s a look at where the public stands on some of the major legal, political and social issues that could come before the Supreme Court in the years ahead.
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American religious groups vary widely in their views of abortion
Many Many Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons and members of some evangelical churches say abortion should be illegal. But among other religious groups, many support legal abortion.
