Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Views on Abortion Shifting

 Look for battles to attempt to force more government involvement and more approval of federal funding of abortions, as the pro abortion proponents attempt to shore up their weakening position in the minds of Americans. We may have finally been given light at the end of the tunnel as it concerns turning around America's perceptions and beliefs as it concerns abortion..

Even so, the adamant and rabidly left feminists will never concede either defeat or a demand by the public to end abortions.  But it is heartening to see a point where the trend has been reversed and as a result, fewer abortions will be performed. 

"Pro-Choice" Americans at Record-Low 41%


The 41% of Americans who now identify themselves as "pro-choice" is down from 47% last July and is one percentage point below the previous record low in Gallup trends, recorded in May 2009. Fifty percent now call themselves "pro-life," one point shy of the record high, also from May 2009.
U.S. Adults' Position on Abortion
Gallup began asking Americans to define themselves as pro-choice or pro-life on abortion in 1995, and since then, identification with the labels has shifted from a wide lead for the pro-choice position in the mid-1990s, to a generally narrower lead for "pro-choice" -- from 1998 through 2008 -- to a close division between the two positions since 2009. However, in the last period, Gallup has found the pro-life position significantly ahead on two occasions, once in May 2009 and again today. It remains to be seen whether the pro-life spike found this month proves temporary, as it did in 2009, or is sustained for some period.
Decline in "Pro-Choice" Views Seen Across Partisan Groups
The decline in Americans' self-identification as "pro-choice" is seen across the three U.S. political groups.
Since 2001, the majority of Republicans have consistently taken the pro-life position, but by a gradually increasing margin over "pro-choice." That gap expanded further this year, with the percentage of Republicans identifying as pro-life increasing to 72% from 68% last May, and those identifying as pro-choice dropping to 22% from 28%. Still, Republicans' current views are similar to those found in 2009.
Trend in Self-Identified Position on Abortion -- Based on Republicans
The percentage of political independents identifying as pro-choice is 10 points lower today than in May 2011, while the percentage pro-life is up by six points. As a result, pro-lifers now outnumber pro-choicers among this important swing political group for only the second time since 2001, with the first occurring in 2009.
More broadly, since 2009, independents have been fairly closely divided between the two abortion positions, whereas for most of the 2001-2008 period, significantly more independents were pro-choice than pro-life.
Trend in Self-Identified Position on Abortion -- Based on Independents
Democrats' views on abortion have changed the least over the past 12 years, with roughly 60% calling themselves pro-choice and about a third pro-life. Democrats' identification as pro-choice was above this range in May 2011, but has returned to about 60% in the current poll.
Trend in Self-Identified Position on Abortion -- Based on Democrats
The shift in abortion views over the past year is not due to a change in the political composition of the samples. In the May 2-6, 2012, Values and Beliefs poll, 47% of respondents are Democrats or lean Democratic, while 41% are Republican or lean Republican. This is similar to the partisan composition of the May and July 2011 surveys, which showed a close division between pro-life and pro-choice Americans.
Views About Morality and Legality of Abortion Hold Steady

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