Majority Favor Increased Restrictions on Abortion

The Pew Research Center conducted a poll last month exploring American attitudes on the topic of abortion.  The results indicate that nearly two-thirds of Americans favor increased restrictions on abortion. 

The results suggest that:

11% want a complete, total ban on abortion;

35% want it to be legal in only a few instances (such as rape, incest or the life of the mother); and,

20% want it to be legal but with greater restrictions.

The most important finding of the poll: only 31% want abortion to remain legal without additional restrictions.    Less than one-third support the current status quo.  The American people continue to shift in the pro-life direction. 

This survey replicates other work done recently that suggests American public opinion on the matter of legal abortion on demand is quite unlike what is has been represented to be.   The American people understand that abortion is wrong-- in fact, 73% of them, according to the Pew poll.

The fact that the matter of abortion is legislated by the courts, however, means that a legislative compromise reflecting the will of the people is unattainable.  Interest needs to remain focused on the courts for those concerned about the injustice of taking innocent human life without sufficient cause.

Comments

[Sue]

So, if I can still add, 35+20+31 = 86% of people believe abortion should be available safely for women, although they disagree on the 'restrictions.'

If that is correct, I see an overwhelming agreement that abortion, in some form(s), is the belief of the majority of Americans.

I'm not sure where you get that 73% said abortion is "wrong." Was that a direct question asked or was it something that you are inferring from the data? If so, which data?

[Joe Guarino]

Sue, you are correct in your inference after adding up the numbers; but I am not sure that you would be at all happy with the result. Adding those numbers means that significantly greater restrictions would be present than those which we have currently (which, for all practical purposes, are... zilch).

The 73% figure is in the article to which I linked (sixth paragraph up from the bottom).

[Lex]

Irrespective of whether abortion is morally wrong, there are more effective ways of reducing its incidence than a legal ban. Moreover, a lot of the same people who want to ban abortion also scream bloody murder when you suggest the other ways of reducing its incidence(better sex ed, more widely available and better contraception, etc., etc.)

Lord save me from Christians who are willing to make other people suffer so they can feel good about themselves.

[Joe Guarino]

Lex, your comment that other ways to reduce the incidence of abortion than a legal ban is correct. For instance, informed consent/waiting period legislation has been documented to reduce the incidence of abortion. It is the law in some other states. In NC, it has apparently been stuck in the Rules Committee in the state legislature for a long, long time.

With respect to the statement about "Christians who are willing to make other people suffer", I cannot accept a standard of ethics that suggests it is OK to take a human life to alleviate the temporal emotional and situational distress of another. Apparently a significant majority of Americans agree.

[Lex]

Actually, 86% of Americans disagree, as Sue pointed out above. Simply put, Joe, the numbers don't say what you say they say.

[Roch101]

Well, Joe, let's do a little exploration of the veracity of Lifenews.com, the sourse you cite, shall we?

The article claims: "Some 73 percent of Americans said in the Pew poll that abortion was morally wrong."

Really? Uh, no. If we go to the primary source (at the end of this comment) what the poll actually reports is 73% "view abortion as morally wrong in at least some circumstances." In fact, only 24% said abortion is wrong in "nearly all circumstances." Big difference. I wonder why LifeNews.com editor Steven Ertelt couldn't shoot straight with his readers.

I found interesting that those with a high school education or less were most likely to think that abortion should never be permitted, while college graduates were more likely to think that abortion should be "generally available."

The poll asked a few other questions. On stem cell research, 56% said is was more important to "conduct research" while only 32% said it was more important to "not destroy embyros." (Those with the least education were the least likely to support research.)

The poll also asked about gay marriage. While most oppose it, 56% to 36%, I find some encouraging information: One, most oppose a constitutional ban on gay marrige; and two, the younger generations are more likely to support gay marriage. In fact, it is the cranky old farts (referred to by Pew only as 65+) who most oppose gay marriage. The majority of 18 - 29 year olds support it. The future is written, we're just waiting for the dinasaurs to die off -- or maybe not: 54% of the total sample favor some sort of civil unions for same-sex couples.

Thanks for bringing this poll to our attention, Joe, although I could have done without LifeNews' distortions.

Here the link to the poll:

http://pewforum.org/docs/index.php?DocID=150

[sean coon]

roch...y! roch...y!

[Cara Michele]

Hi, I'm an 11%er and I just wanted to respond to Lex's comment, and say that yeah, totally, for me it's all about wanting to make people suffer so that I can feel good about MYself and I'm so glad that somebody finally said that so now I can feel free.

[If this comment sounds whack, try reading the one that prompted it.
Wink, CM]

[Jim Caserta]

How about this safe statement: "A majority of people want less abortion," or, "a majority of people want less unwanted pregnancies," or "a majority of people want less teen pregnancy and less unwed pregnancy,"

What I would like to hear is that there are consequences to sex, on top of (pardon) pregnancy and std's. You are giving of yourself emotionally, and if you choose the wrong partner it WILL hurt. How many men treat women & children in this country is just sad - too much abuse and abandonment. I don't think you can separate that from the issue of abortion.

[Brenda Bowers]

People as a volunteer councilor in an abortion clinic I can tell you that women do not take abortion lightly. I personally never met one who was having an abortion as a “means of birth control” or to “abort the wrong sex baby” which are the two most damning reasons given to abolish abortion. I was there, as were all the councilors, to inform women of their alternate choices and to encourage one of these other choices. Then if the woman decided to go ahead with abortion to help her afterwards thru guilt and anger and hurt.
I personally hate abortion! There is only one thing I hate more and that is bringing an unwanted, unloved child into this world to suffer. If life begins at conception as some believe then let the little soul return to God. If as I believe that the soul can enter the physical body at any time up to the time of birth then abortion is not taking a life anymore than tearing an apple off of a tree and eating it. The physical body is as a plant before the soul enters; just a shell not a life as we are speaking of when discussing abortion. Actually killing an living animal is more to be abhorred than killing an empty humanoid form.
Joe, these surveys are skewered to get the results they want. In the case of abortion where you find a large number of people wanting abortion but limitations I have found when studying the questions that the most damning reasons for abortion were asked. For example: Would you approve of abortion when the child is the wrong gender as is practiced in China with it's limitations on the number of children a couple may have? Even the strongest proponent of abortion would say no to that one.

[Joe Guarino]

OK, I will try to respond to these comments individually.

Roch, I appreciate your pointing out what the original study said about the 73% figure. My gut feeling, however, is that this distinction is less significant than it may appear. Previous surveys have indicated that large numbers do not believe abortion is right in any circumstance, or when it does not involve rape, incest or the life of the mother. In addition, many do not believe abortion is right when it is used as an auxiliary (or back-up) method of birth control-- which is the reality the vast majority of the time. The statement that only 24% feel it is wrong in nearly all circumstances leaves me wondering. If these folks knew the circumstances under which abortions are most often obtained, and were advised of this before the question was asked, I suspect this number would be different. There is a misconception that abortion is most often obtained for such circumstances as the health or life of the fetus or mother; rape; or incest. These circumstances, however, represent only a small portion of the abortions that take place.

[Joe Guarino]

Roch, I also do not accept the premise that the young, or the college educated, possess the high ground on questions of morality; or that they possess the corner on societal wisdom. Sometimes, the converse can be true.

[Joe Guarino]

Jim, I agree with much of what you have to say. The question of abuse, however, raises interesting issues.

When abortion involves an underaged girl and a gentleman older than 18, then the intercourse that took place is statutory rape. The abortion in some cases covers up that fact. It also can be used to cover up incest.

I have pointed out previously that abortion serves the interests of young men because it helps provide easier access to premarital intercourse. And the societal prevalence of premarital intercourse assures that we will see significant amounts of abandonment in the case of out-of-wedlock pregnancies. These are some of the reasons young men are among the biggest supporters of legal abortion on demand. It provides them with access to sexual intercourse, and enables them to evade their responsibilities. I suspect women were treated much better in premarital relationships prior to when intercourse became perceived as an entitlement.

[Joe Guarino]

Brenda, as I noted above, the unfortunate reality is that abortion most often is used as an auxiliary or back-up method of birth control.

The topic of ensoulment is interesting. There is no scientific way to know when the human body is imbued with a soul. The inescapable scientific reality is that a unique human life begins when the genetic material from the sperm and ovum become comingled after fertilization. 4-D ultrasounds are demonstrating astonishing visual evidence of life-- movement-- even at 8-9 weeks into the pregnancy.

I suspect the surveys confirm what we already knew-- that the public is deeply conflicted about abortion; that it thinks it is too easily obtained; and that it, to some extent, may be indulging some wishful thinking about the circumstances under which most abortions occur.

[Roch101]

"Previous surveys have indicated that large numbers do not believe abortion is right in any circumstance..." -- Joe

Joe, Ertlet also made a similar claim in his article, also without citing any of those supposed polls.

Here is a collection of polls about abrotion:

http://www.pollingreport.com/abortion.htm

In total, they offer some interesting insight into how people view abortion depending on what they are being asked bout it. In the questions that ask about the circumstances under which abortion should be legal, only 4% to 20% offer the opinion that abortion is not right in any circumstance.

[Joe Guarino]

I don't disagree with those numbers, and they correlate somewhat with my initial post. The sentence I wrote above to which you refer was intended to mean that, IN AGGREGATE, large numbers of folks do not support abortion at all or support it when it does not involve rape, incest or the life of the mother. I think the way I wrote it may have been confusing or did not convey accurately what I meant.

[Lex]

One other thing, Joe: This is America. We don't put individual human rights up to a popular vote.

[Jim Caserta]

Lex, I have to disagree. The process of amending the constitution is a combination of congressional and popular state votes. It is not a 50.1% wins vote, it is a 2/3 congress and 3/4 of the states respectively.

The interesting thing about the survey is that it said that 2/3 of people are pretty fixed in their view, and only 1/3 are really open to change their mind. So maybe any debate here is useless.

Choosing whether or not to get an abortion is a situation no one wants to be in. I would like pro-choicers to at least sign up to an effort to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies, and thus the number of abortions. Then the pro-lifers can take some of the millions they spend lobbying and say, we can help with that. Spend money on realistic sex-education, contraception, self-esteem issues, personal responsibility and family planning. Maybe that pipe dream needs to listen to a just-say-no campaign.

[Joe Guarino]

Lex, this was also America prior to Roe vs. Wade. The premise that the "right" to abortion is a fundamental American right is open to question; and many believe, as I do, that Roe vs. Wade was wrongly decided.

Jim, I agree to some extent, but will refrain from discussing (and thereby debating) sex-ed and contraception for purposes of this particular post.

[Bubba]

"Choosing whether or not to get an abortion is a situation no one wants to be in. I would like pro-choicers to at least sign up to an effort to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies, and thus the number of abortions."

Unfortunately there are some people that are so rigid in their politics that they will refuse to cede ANY ground that compromises unfettered abortion on demand under any circumstances.

[Joe Guarino]

That unfortunately is the truth, Bubba.