A new Gallup Poll, conducted May 7-10, finds 51% of Americans calling themselves "pro-life" on the issue of abortion and 42% "pro-choice." This is the first time a majority of U.S. adults have identified themselves as pro-life since Gallup began asking this question in 1995.
(GALLUP)Photos (1 of 1)
Abortion debate: Gallup says more Americans pro-life
By Jimmy Orr | 05.15.09
President Obama’s not the only one who’s doing a lot of flipping and flopping lately. Apparently the American people are too.
Except we don’t have a Robert Gibbs to stand up in front of a camera to explain that there’s no change here — it’s what we’ve been saying all along.
New poll
For the first time since 1995, most Americans say they’re pro-life. A new Gallup poll reveals that 51 percent of Americans identify themselves as such while 42 percent label themselves pro-choice.
These numbers reflect a big change from last year when 50 percent said they supported abortion rights, while 44 percent said they did not.
Respondents were asked, “With respect to the abortion issue, would you consider yourself to be pro-choice or pro-life?”
Circumstances
Although more individuals may be labeling themselves as pro-life, the survey also found that 53 percent said abortion should be legal under certain circumstances.
About an equal percentage balance out the wings with 23 percent responding that abortion should be illegal in all circumstances and 22 percent say it should be legal under any circumstances.
The GOP is responsible for most of the change, Gallup explains. The ranks of pro-life Republicans increased by 10 points over the last year, from 60 percent to 70 percent. While Democrats have remained constant.
Why the change?
Gallup explains it this way
“With the first pro-choice president in eight years already making changes to the nation’s policies on funding abortion overseas, expressing his support for the Freedom of Choice Act, and moving toward rescinding federal job protections for medical workers who refuse to participate in abortion procedures, Americans — and, in particular, Republicans — seem to be taking a step back from the pro-choice position. However, the retreat is evident among political moderates as well as conservatives.
“It is possible that, through his abortion policies, Obama has pushed the public’s understanding of what it means to be “pro-choice” slightly to the left, politically. While Democrats may support that, as they generally support everything Obama is doing as president, it may be driving others in the opposite direction.”
538
Two days ago, last election’s superstar pollster Nate Silver was discussing another poll showing a decline in support for abortion. He’s not convinced that there’s a real change in public opinion going on. If there is, he says, it’s “occurring very slowly.”
What’s interesting is that he said there’s “decent evidence” that those in Generation Y might be more pro-life than their older counterparts (Gen X and the Baby Boomers).
“This is in spite of the fact that young Americans are considerably more liberal than their peers on issues like gay marriage and marijuana legalization, issues on which there is more tangible evidence of “momentum” in favor of the liberal position,” Silver writes. “There are evidently an increasing number of pro-life, pro-gay marriage Americans, particularly among Generation Y’ers, a position it would have been very unusual to encounter just a few years ago.”
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2. S | 05.15.09
What a scary legacy of Abstinence Only Education…Not only was it irresponsible and shown in study after study not to work…it taught scary myths and obviously distored women’s health and women’s rights history…this is why we need to have adequate sex education in the classrooms and a history that encompasses women’s and minority civil rights in this country…People must know that it doesn’t take much to start chipping away at progress…We must protect abortion rights and women’s reproductive health rights…It’s funny, the same people who oppose big government don’t have any qualms about legalizing morality and using government to enforce the most private and intimate parts of their lives…it’s a very scary and sad backlash…I hope something’s done about this scary trend!
3. Jung Gatoona | 05.15.09
It’s a good day when there are less dead babies lying about in the land fill.
4. bbbbbbbbbbbb | 05.15.09
I AM PRO- CHOICE! I AM PRO-REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS! I WILL NOT HAVE AN ABORTION, BUT I WILL NEVER INFRINGE UPON YOUR RIGHT TO HAVE ONE!!
And to you Jung, making abortion illegal will only add dead women to that landfill. Illegal abortions are dangerous abortions.
5. Katie Murphy | 05.15.09
I’m willing to bet that some of this was driven by the religious right who are frothing at the mouth that Obama is President, and they won’t be able to turn the supreme court into a Theocracy. Because if they did get total control of the supreme court, they would further demonize gay people, and make us more and more just a christian version of Saudi Arabia. The country that gave us 9/11. Religious hatred is hatred, regardless of brand.
The so called religious right think that abortion is their “trump card”. The issue that lets them blind people so that the people ignore all their crimes.
A perfect example is the treatment of gay people, including the death by suicide of 3000 gay kids - real people - a 9/11 every year of our children. Directly due to church condemnation and its destruction of these children’s self worth. All in the name of their God.
These kids, btw, and our gays are just the “new Jews” for the church. Who always have to have a victim in order to push their agenda.
6. Katie Murphy | 05.15.09
I’m willing to bet that some of this was driven by the religious right who are frothing at the mouth that Obama is President, and they won’t be able to turn the supreme court into a Theocracy. Because if they did get total control of the supreme court, they would further demonize gay people, and make us more and more just a christian version of Saudi Arabia. The country that gave us 9/11. Religious hatred is hatred, regardless of brand.
The so called religious right think that abortion is their “trump card”. The issue that lets them blind people so that the people ignore all their crimes.
A perfect example is the treatment of gay people, including the death by suicide of 3000 gay kids - real people - a 9/11 every year of our children. Directly due to church condemnation and its destruction of these children’s self worth. All in the name of their God.
These kids, btw, and our gays are just the “new Jews” for the church. Who always have to have a victim in order to push their agenda.
8. S response | 05.15.09
S, please stop pushing your morality on me and my young children. The pro Abortion crowd has push many to the right with their absolutist stance on the issue. I am against you because you are for partial-birth abortion and because you want to allow minors to have abortions without parental consent. These are heinous in my view and worthy of you losing the argument.
9. Bob | 05.15.09
Thank goodness more people are having qualms about killing babies. Abortion should only be used when the mothers physical health is threatened. To kill a baby IS a big thing.
10. Steve MD2 | 05.15.09
Someone mentioned abstinence.
Do I remember something about Mrs Abstinence Palin and her daughter.
The churches do not control the media any more, there is more then their bible to read.
And the way you avoid producing perverts is to bring sex out into the open, not make it the forbidden fruit. Something a large church forgot about, with its puritan values. And then covered up for decades.
11. H | 05.15.09
“It’s funny, the same people who oppose big government don’t have any qualms about legalizing morality and using government to enforce the most private and intimate parts of their lives.”
The best way I have heard it put in awhile, S.
12. LUVWKND | 05.15.09
Does FREEDOM OF CHOICE mean anything to any AMERICANS? This country was built so we could be free from oppressive government and now all you Pro-Lifers want the oppression back?
Quit sticking your nose in other peoples business, if a woman is pregnant and doesn’t want to go through the headache of 9 months of pregnancy and giving birth IT IS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS, it’s hers so cork your pie hole and stay out of business in which you have nothing to do with!
13. K | 05.15.09
to “S”,
And “I think it’s funny” that democrats with all their constant proclaiming to be the party of equal right for all was always the party with the largest support for abortion, including the ghastly partial birth abortion that this president supports with flying colors. Thank goodness that this poll might be showing the American people are seeing behind the hypocracy of this and fanally take a stand for the lives of thoses who truly cannot speak for themselves.
14. Robert | 05.15.09
“It’s a good day when there are less dead babies lying about in the land fill.”
It would be a better day when the lions were loosed to end the lies and ignorance of the faithful.
Zygotes are not babies, and your sky daddy is not real.
pfffft
15. J | 05.15.09
S-
When does a baby become subject to legal protection? Would you say went it passes from a woman’s body, thereby becoming independent? Just asking, b/c deny a baby it’s right to life merely based on this is a very weak argument. I’m certain you have a much stronger position than that. Anyone who has nurtured a newborn knows that they are no more able to care for themselves or be considered ‘independent’ of their mom that when in utero.
16. Ken | 05.15.09
“Legalizing morality ?” Come on! You don’t think killing life in the womb is a moral decsion one way or the other???
The more the public knows about abortion, the more they don’t like it.
This is a problem for some on the left. It’s also a problem when they declare their positions somehow neutral of morality, whereas the right is all about “Legalizing morality”. Agree or disagree, we legislate morality with every choice we make … just look at the current administration.
17. Mike | 05.15.09
For the record, Jung, abortions can be reduced without a ban. More life and more rights. Yes, sounds like a good compromise to me.
18. Joni | 05.15.09
I don’t think there’ll be fewer “dead babies…in the land fill”. There will be more women put at risk as they are forced to seek “back-alley” abortions. The pro-choice argument is about a woman’s ability to chose, without fear, what is best for her own health and welfare. Unless you are that particular woman, or someone who she seeks guidance from, your opinion should have no effect on her decision-making process.
19. dXm | 05.15.09
Sample size was 1,015 people. The people who answered their phones, the ones willing to talk to pollsters.
statistical shennaningans.
Gallup is becoming irrelevant with changing telecommunication styles, laypeople better understanding the inexact nature of poll stats.
20. Gordon | 05.15.09
It is good to see that kids are generally interested in preserving life and giving it a chance rather than simply extinguishing it because it is convenient. When balancing gay mariage with abortion, it is clear to today’s youth that abortion is the greater evil.
21. Joni | 05.15.09
I think it’s strange to see such ups & downs in the results. I do not believe that people change their mind on this issue in such a way…I’d be interested to see the demographics and how they may have changed in relation to the results.
22. Erik | 05.15.09
I got a phone call poll just the other night on this. The person on the phone asked, “Would you consider yourself more Pro-Choice, Pro-Life, or somewhere in between?”.
I think most pro-lifers are hardcore pro-lifers. So if you consider “somewhere in between” the missing percentage on pro-choice then I’d say we’re still pretty much a 50/50 country. Also the way the question is asked on such a quick poll makes a big difference and the question was different last year when they called pro-choice “abortion rights”. As “abortion rights” sounds more pleasing I can see why people are more pro-choice last year.
23. duh | 05.15.09
Kids are likely to think what their parents think. The would-be pro-choicers got aborted instead.
24. 72 opelGT | 05.15.09
It’s a better day when the government stays out of personal decisions, and religious loonies don’t hold office.
25. Ted from MA | 05.15.09
Anyone who has studied polling knows that the results you get depend on how you ask the question. In the current Gallup poll, “respondents were asked, “With respect to the abortion issue, would you consider yourself to be pro-choice or pro-life?”
These are not emotionally neutral terms, and in the strict meaning of the term, almost everyone is “pro-life”.
Imagine Gallup had instead asked: “Do you believe a woman has a right to a safe, medically provided abortion, or do you believe she does not have that right?” Try guessing what the answers to that question would be.
26. Brettrix | 05.15.09
S… your self-importance and ignorance shine in your comments - ” using government to enforce the most private and intimate parts of their ” - what about the life that is growing inside of the womans womb? Does your morality end upon conception?
27. Pedro | 05.15.09
I don’t think that abortion is right, but it should not be illegal (if it is, people will just find another illegal and unsafe way of doing it). what we need to do is to attack the source, not the effect. And the main source is abstinence programs. As General said above, it has been proven over and over that abstinence only does not work it makes things worse actually(look at Palin’s daughter. She even said it herself before her mother made her say otherwise in that foundation of theirs).
We need to make sex ed a must in every school in the country AND we must teach it as early as possible (in my HS, it was given to Juniors and Seniors, big mistake. There were several Freshmen and Sophomore that were already pregnant).
28. DDG | 05.15.09
People may disagree on this issue, and reasonably so. However, please notice the ideologues on both sides and their tactics. They try to label and demonize those with whom they disagree. This would not be a problem if the federal government was simply not involved in this issue. Where in the Constitution does it grant the authority to the federal govt to dictate the circumstances under which an abortion may occur? Once the feds control the issue, then the ideologues on both sides start fighting over who controls the federal govt so they can dictate to the whole country how to live. If the states control this issue, as they should under the Constitution, people can live where they like the laws. It is called voting with your feet. And sorry ‘S’, but most true conservatives do not want the govt to dictate how citizens should live their lives, period. With the federal govt out, the fascists on the left and right will be out of luck.
29. J of S | 05.15.09
It doesn’t matter if it’s 51% or 91%. Our Constitution was designed to protect ALL of us from each other’s religions.
If 51% of the people convert to Judaism, will all grocery stores be expected to go Kosher?
I don’t want to live in any country where one religion gets to tell all the other religions what to do - even if it’s my religion.
And - like it or not - the narrow definition of “Pro-Life” most people support (Yes to capital punishment, Yes to torture, Yes to pre-emptive war, No to abortion, No to sex-education) is a religious conviction.
31. Josh | 05.15.09
“What a scary legacy of Abstinence Only Education”
Huh??? It’s scary that less babies are being murdered? You talk about women’s rights but what about baby’s rights? Who can stand up for them?? Why the people who WEREN’T fortunately aborted!
Also, abstinence-only DOES work because my wife and I accomplished it before marriage. People need to learn boundaries and not always do what feels good. Just because a teen is physically able to have sex does not mean he/she should. Learn delay-gratification!! People don’t casually go rob a bank when they need a bonus or pay raise! So why give into to sex before marriage just because you want to?
There are some selfish people out there who just to think about their rights to convenience compared to bringing a life into the world.
33. Kate | 05.15.09
A poll is a poll is a poll. Isn’t the first thing you learn in statistics something along the lines of ‘do not trust statistics?’ And considering that the poll shows the majority still supports choice (in some form - with restrictions), all the headlines screaming “Most Americans are Pro-Life” are extremely misleading.
I think what this poll is actually showing is that more people are shifting towards the middle ground; that there are less people on the extreme ends of the debate. And I don’t think the middle is such a bad place to be in this case.
34. D | 05.15.09
Interesting how educating the public sways their opinion. Hopefully Obama will continue to educate America on the “true” side of liberalism and this trend will continue. Way to go America!!
35. Jerad | 05.15.09
Jung Gatoona, are you a moronic or just a bomb thrower. Maybe it’s a good day for you when the planned parenthoods are getting blown up or when I’m subjected to people like you holding up cardboard cutouts of babies with blood dripping from them on the Venice Boardwalk. You disgust me, I hope you have 10 adopted children, financially support the 15 year olds you forced into keeping their kids, donated money to the support of gay marriage so they could take more kids out of foster care, but it’s way easier to give readers imagery of babies in a landfill. You and Pat R-bertson should be the face of tolerance.
36. James Daily | 05.15.09
But just what does it mean to be “pro-life” or “pro-choice” to each survey respondent?
Regardless of labels, 75% of people believe it should be legal in at least some circumstances.
Regardless of my personal feelings on abortion, I am very strongly against making laws telling women what they can and can’t do with their own bodies.
37. Rose Newburg | 05.15.09
Abortion, not a political matter, not a poll matter. Of no one’s business but the pregnant person! Which also leaves ALL males out.
38. Mike J | 05.15.09
Finally Americans are waking up and actually thinking instead of just buying into the “if you put the words ‘women’s rights’ in there it’s fine” ****.
39. Mike M | 05.15.09
I hate these generational titles, but I guess I’m one of the Gen Y’ers this article is talking about. I am pro-life but also support gay marriage (at least legally, I think that individual religions and churches can decide for themselves if they want to recognize such a marriage) and support the legalization of marijuana. I look forward to a day where unborn babies are not murdered for selfish reasons, where gay marriage is a non-issue in politics, and where I can walk down the street smoking a fat one without worrying about being arrested.
40. ked, Florence SC | 05.15.09
If the writer were anything more than a partisan hack, which he is not, he might have a taken the effort to note that abortion is a *medical* procedure that is absolutely essential in cases of ectopic pregnancy, for instance. So much for the “23 percent responding that abortion should be illegal in all circumstances.” Likewise, there is little point in talking to pro-choicers who do not see a terrible moral failure in the roughly 1 million US abortions each year. Any sane abortion policy will have it available, legal, and exceedingly rare.
41. Vicki | 05.15.09
ABortion does equal bigger govt!. Who do you think pays for most of them?. If women are worried about their health, don’t get pregnant to begin with. Abortion is a mans creation that implied women are not smart enought to say no! Our choice is whether to have sex in the first place. I hope the younger generation is smarter and values human life from the moment of conception not only once it looks like a child. Funny, these pro-death people don’t mind killing a child but say something mean spirited about a gay or look wrong at an animal and that is certainly ok!.
42. Valyn | 05.15.09
It’s a TERRIBLE day when the victim’s of pregnancy by rape/incest are forced to have their children. It has been shown that anti-abortion laws do not stop abortion. Ever heard of a coathanger?
43. jeff | 05.15.09
Abortion is no different than pulling the plug on the elderly or injured who rely on outside means to keep them alive for a period of time. Plus, its only a matter of time before science allows us to take an embryo or fetus and help it grow it outside the mother instead of terminating it. If we are okay with killing something that can be saved then that is a discussion about choice that I would like to have.
44. Dwight Johnson | 05.15.09
Gen Y is the first to have lived entirely within the period where abortion on demand was the law of the land. And they are thus the first generation to wonder “what if my mother had chosen to abort me?”, and have every reason to believe that it might easily have happened. That has to be a chilling thought for any sensitive person.
45. Kristen | 05.15.09
The poll itself proves that that saying “I am pro-life” and saying “I support abortion rights” are not mututally exclusive. So I don’t see how this poll represents a drastic change from last year - the questions are not the same. It seems that all this analysis is not necessary. People just need to realize that many Americans, regardless of how they feel about the abortion issue personally, feel that it’s important to protect women’s rights.
46. Ryan | 05.15.09
I’m not against abortion, but I think it would be better to find other means of birth control. Condoms help prevent STDs and the pill has fewer side effects than abortion. I am one of those 53% - certain circumstances… I thought I was among very few that believes that way. I hope we do find ways to protect women’s health and rights like ‘S’ suggests but also have “less dead babies lying about in the land fill” as Jung puts it. I hope my wife and I will never have reason to contemplate it and I feel for all women and families that do. It’s always interesting when God, religion, morality, humanity, science, and politics all get meshed together and try and come up with absolutes.
47. djDie-0-Logic | 05.15.09
Only orphans and women should be allowed to formulate policy around abortion. All others are only imparting their opinion on something that doesn’t effect them.
48. Bobby | 05.15.09
We need abortion, the world is so over populated. The more abortions we have the less pollution we will be contributing.
49. Ward Kelly | 05.15.09
The question is whether it is a “live” human being or not. If not, then who cares what you do? If it is a live human being, then abortionist (& mothers) have serious questions to awnser, considering the human being is defenseless.
50. Nikki L | 05.15.09
Jung, I don’t think anyone is pro-putting dead babies in landfills. I do think that people are concerned with babies coming into a world where there isn’t enough food, water or adults who care about raising a child.
51. SanSal | 05.15.09
“…the same people who oppose big government don’t have any qualms about legalizing morality and using government to enforce the most private and intimate parts of their lives.”
So true, S. I agree wholeheartedly.
What I don’t understand is the sentiments surrounding right to life of the unborn very infrequently translate to life itself. Take for example pro-life sentiment for capital punishment.
I don’t agree with abortion merely as a form of birth control, and there should be much consideration and perhaps counseling before utilized, but keeping it legal is critical.
I wonder if so many Gen Y’ers are against abortion because they’ve never lived when abortion was not legal in the US.
It’s going to get real ugly in South Bend this weekend.
52. Gene | 05.15.09
I love the fact that when ever polls are done they always ask if you are pro-life or pro-choice. A simple glance at the question shows the errors held in it. The question should be are you pro-life or pro-abortion. There is now middle ground. This pro-choice option was a master stroke committed by the pro-abortion crowd in order to attach it to a quickly spreading true cause such as women’s rights. They learned that if you attach the fact of abortion to a historic American right such as choice it would be easier to sway the masses. However this debate boils down to the value of human life. This is why it is so passionately debated. If humans have value then abortion is dreadfully wrong, if we do not, there is no reason we should object to a human returning to the slim from which we came. So does human life have value? If it does not then there can be no such thing as murder, genocide, or the holocaust. But is a fetus human Life? I will not say when human life begins. However it is potential life. Currently there are 93 birds on the endangered species lists within the US. The potential life that is contained within the eggs of these birds is protected under law and is punishable with fines and jail terms. Now I admit that Humans do not face extinction at the current point. My point is that potential avian life is protected under law. So according to the US Law, the eggs of certain birds have more protection than the human fetus, or infant.
Just something to think about.
53. Mary | 05.15.09
Why must what I do with my body be subject to your morality standards? Do I impose such restrictions on you? This is my body to use as I see fit. For centuries, your Church has imposed it’s male-written standards on the women of the world. BACK OFF! What we need is legislation to prevent parents from indoctrinating their children with narrow minded ideas. Then maybe there will be open discussion on how to prevent the pregnancies you are so against terminating by those who are going to engage in sex anyway. I hate to break it to you but your little church going daughters and sons are engaging in sex despite your restrictions. Knowledge and openness about sex only empowers one to make rational decisions about how they use their body. Your Victorian Age limited thinking makes the problem worse by making those that need the guidance afraid to talk about their issues.
54. Cindy | 05.15.09
My problem with the pro-lifers is that they also tend to be anti-birth control. Africa is struggling with population growth partly because America quit funding birth control in Africa. These same folks generally don’t really seem to care about poor and starving children. Nor do they seem to care about the environmental problems caused by over population. And, they don’t appear to respect women’s rights in general. So, that makes me skeptical of their moral self-righteousness and their efforts to impose their values on everyone else.
55. Vicki | 05.15.09
I love these “it’s none of your business” comments. If you are spending tax dollars to do it, you made it my business. Teaching kids right off the bat that no responsibility is necessary, just get rid of it is really a great tactic.
56. Vicki | 05.15.09
Cindy, when is the last time you spent any of your money or time in Africa?. Don’t lecture anyone about some problem you read about. It is a good cause, so get busy and have a nice flight.
57. Margie | 05.15.09
800 children die every day from AIDS/HIV (source Caritas.org)
A child in Africa dies every 30 seconds from malaria (source WHO and UNICEF).
Daily, 16,000 children die from hunger-related causes–one child every five seconds. (Black, Robert, Morris, Saul, & Jennifer Bryce. “Where and Why Are 10 Million Children Dying Every Year?” The Lancet)
Do we see any of your righteous indignation to preventing these needless child deaths? What did you do today to feed a starving child? What did you do today to make a sick child better? Until your tiresome “Save the Babies” refrain extends to all children and all manners in which they suffer,
58. Norman Solow | 05.15.09
I am pro-choice. Cannot believe that Roe V Wade hangs over us like a rain cloud. This is a womens issue with her family, husband, partner etc.
Life is precious. But keep the decision private. It’s really interesting that certain groups have no other agenda. Mean while children are murdered every day in this country.
Norman
59. Vicki | 05.15.09
Margie, do you beleive we should show an abortion film in schools?. Why not educate people on how to not get pregnant instead of trying to deal with the results?. Planned parenthood uses our tax dollars but fight like cats to ensure they are not forced to actaully show what an abortion is to a potential client. They know the impact it would have and it would negatively impact their business… again that we support!
60. Kelly | 05.15.09
It is hard to beleive in this day, women are still so ignorant and have bought into the brain washing that we just are too stupid to make our choice early enough not to impact another human being. Choose early and avoid the entire issue. Is that really so difficult?. Isn’t it time that we women unite against those who suppress our right and obligation to society to be relavant and responsible?
61. Questioner | 05.15.09
Vicki - where are you getting the idea that your tax dollars have anything to do with another woman’s choice to go to a clinic and pay for a medical proceedure out of her own pocket? Women pay for those themselves, they aren’t getting a government voucher for a D&C.
Secondly, what if you were the one who was carrying a child you did not want or ask to be put inside you? What if you didn’t have a choice to get pregnant (ie you get attacked) - and then discover you have no choices afterward either because the random man’s right to use you to get off in is more important that your right to control your body?
Are you really ok with being a sex toy and baby factory for any man that can overpower you without any say for yourself and your body? That is what you condemn other women to by insisting no one can have an abortion.
62. Margie | 05.15.09
Thank you Vickie. I know you can appreciate the tremendous sense of loss holding a dying child in my arms, unable to establish an IV in her veins because she’s so emaciated. All I can do is brush the swarming flies from her face as her little brown eyes stare at me. Her mother, after carrying her for days to reach our clinic, devastated because she was not able to feed her daughter. A mother who is 7 months pregnant with another child who is likely to suffer the same fate. Too many children are not being taken care of now for you to make judgment on how others run their lives. I support saving all the babies but I am also a realist. There is no point bringing a child into this world merely so it can die a long, slow, horrendous death.
64. Denverite Reader | 05.15.09
This issue is a personal, private one–and should be respected as such. We have laws that protect our privacy; I think the abortion question (whether or not a woman wants to continue a pregnancy) is personal and private! It is strictly the pregnant woman’s decision. Those who are against abortion shouldn’t have one. It is personal choice–and those who choose not to have an abortion under any circumstances, that’s fine, too; however, they should not dictate what others who would choose differently, do. Quite simply, it is not their business! If they are so terribly upset by the thought of a woman who chooses to end an unwanted pregnancy, they should instead focus their attention and energy on how they can help, mentor and love unwanted and abused children who are already living lives of neglect–certainly, there is no shortage of children in that situation! Just a thought…maybe those who are so eager to ‘cast stones’ at others who choose differently than themselves are really the wolves among us in sheep’s clothing? eh?!
And in reply to “it’s my tax dollars”–good grief! my tax dollars fund programs I am personally opposed to, as well–but it is my civic duty to pay my taxes and I gladly do so–for the overall good of our society! Besides, most abortions are funded by HMOs or private insurance! Not your personal tax dollars. I say stop throwing those hateful stones, get busy with all those poor kids who are hungering for hope, love and attention! Enough already!
65. Liz | 05.15.09
How wonderful that more people are taking into consideration the lives of these unborn children. Yes, there are circumstances (rape, incest, mother’s life at risk) where abortion may be considered but I think it is completely irresponsible to use abortion as a form of birth control. The time for choice is deciding when, where, and with whom to have sex. Sex is the way babies are made and adults need to start taking responsibility for their actions. When a life is created that is a BIG deal. It is a life, the second the egg is fertilized. There are consequences for sexual promiscuity, we can’t use abortion to try and erase that. I believe in choice but not saving people from the consequences of their stupid actions. What we end up with an emotionally damaged populace with no accountability for their actions.
66. Pata | 05.15.09
So what else is new? Gallup is a Republican pollster. The answer to the question is determined by HOW the question is asked.
Barack Obama made it abundantly clear that he is pro-reproductive rights, during his very long campaign.
He won by a large margin.
67. Mike | 05.15.09
The elites and their supporters will continue to have legal authority to kill unborn children. They’re too powerful to dislodge. But though these little ones’ bodies will be broken, their souls will fly up to God and He will take them in. Those who do these vile crimes and who endorse them will not be found guiltless, however.
68. Stephen | 05.15.09
I would consider myself pro-life, except “pro-lifers” want zero protections for the health of the mother or for victims of sexual assaults.
They don’t want to reduce unwanted pregnancies, and instead increase them by restricting sex education, and access to contraception.
They slur women as “welfare moms” & “unwed mothers” to justify draining money from social programs that provide child care, wage subsidies, & medical care to mothers and their children.
They abandoned any attempts to reduce abortions for the past 30 years and focused only on Roe v Wade. Content that any babies they could have saved in the meantime would be “martyrs” for their cause.
It’s a lot easier for moderates on the issue to support a more “pro-life” position when we have a president pushing for universal health coverage, expansions in SCHIP, affordable housing, living wages, child care credits, sex education, access to contraception, reducing unwanted pregnancies, etc, etc.
69. I’m Pro-life | 05.15.09
How would all of you feel looking down from heaven knowing that you never got a chance to live your life, that your own mother took your right to life away from you?
70. Blaine Kalb | 05.15.09
I am a pro life liberal, and pro life is just about the only Republican position I agree with, except for personal accountability.I am a Social Worker who believes in a social safety net but also think we should drug, alcohol, and nicotine test recipients of said programs.
71. Zephaniah | 05.15.09
Abortion is wrong…period.
You will know this one day because you will be standing before God and that baby you aborted will be standing there in his spirit body also. I wonder how much of a vote the one you murdered will have when it comes to your judgment?
72. Carl Johnson | 05.15.09
The question should obviously be framed: Are you pro-choice or anti-abortion? You’d get different results I’m sure
73. Jonathon | 05.15.09
The problem with the most recent poll is that it is a singular poll. This poll, like most polls, has a random chance of 1 in 20 (5%) of being more than 3% off of the true amount, this means that if you take enough polls there is going to be one that is more than 3%. I will not believe that there is a shift until we get a few more polls to back it up. Also, abortion should not be a private decision. It is taking the life of another. Society has put laws in place to protect people. Just because they cannot survive outside the womb does not make them any less human. I can’t survive in space without the right protection.
74. Interesting perspective | 05.15.09
There was an independent study done in Philadelphia to see the impact of a crisis pregnancy on an unmarried woman. To the shock of the investigators, they repeatedly found that women who chose to keep their babies rather than abort had significant “quality of life” improvements, such as becoming sober and/or returning to school to obtain a degree. The women repeatedly stated to those conducting the study that the impetus for the change in their lives was the birth of their child; e.g., “I never cared about myself before, but now I have to because I have to care for my baby.”
75. 3d | 05.15.09
I do not like this debate at all. My recommendations:
Anti-abortion (”Pro-Life”) people should also go the extra mile when it comes to supporting young mothers who give birth. It also only makes things worse to threaten women who would seek an abortion with criminal punishment, making their predicament even worse. There should be another system of preventing abortion (of course a difficult matter, one which should be developed by people without a particular political agenda, if possible.)
Pro-abortion (”Pro-Choice”) people should understand that abortion is killing - any way you look at it. It should be made absolutely clear to everyone how horrific this is (and yes, with films in schools, etc.) Only then, can we move to a real debate on the issue.
76. JD | 05.15.09
This is so fascinating when you look at Pro-Life versus Pro-death penalty. is there a difference?
77. CA Kinder teacher | 05.15.09
You cannot outlaw abortion, any more than you can outlaw sex…..just as humans have always attempted to create crude methods of birth control, so have they also attempted to abort pregnancies that they did not want through various unsophistocated and often dangerous means; all you can do is make abortion illegal and unsafe, and I for one certainly don’t want to see us return to those times of coathangers and back-alley butchers. I happen to be a devout Buddhist and in my faith, life begins when a baby draws its first breath — why is is that fundamentalist Christians get to foist their religious views upon me because they believe life begins at conception and therefore abortion is sinful? Keep your religion out of my bedroom and off my body! Let people decide for themselves whether or not abortion is right for their situation, and if the answer is “yes”, I want them to have access to a safe and legal procedure. It’s not my business what other people decide to do with an unplanned/unwanted pregnancy, and it’s not yours either.
78. Kyle | 05.15.09
I find it ironic that liberals believe that a person who has taken another life deserves the right to live, but that it is fine to kill an innocent, defenseless baby that is still in the mother’s womb.
79. fred junesters | 05.16.09
A Roman father could kill his child within the first dozen years of his life if his neighbor citizens agreed in a vote. That sounds like the right type of citizenry. So, I definitely believe that a woman should have the right to an abortion before the baby is born. It is her right.
80. Kyle | 05.16.09
I agree with you, Mr. Junesters. Zephaniah is wrong. Only one man will stand in judgement of you that day, and it will the our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
81. Harvey | 05.16.09
I like the direction that “djDie-0-Logic” is thinking — only orphans and women get to decide. Not all of us are directly affected. To extend that thinking, what if the father were directly affected? I would go along with a ban on abortion if there were a mandatory national DNA registry all males. The goal would be to always know who the father is. Along with that a law that the father or his family pay support for the mother and child (childhood through undergraduate degree). I believe in this society no one objects to a woman still choosing whom to marry, so that should remain her choice. The payment level should be calculated to raise her life and the life of her child to parity with the mean of our society’s lifestyle.
If the consequences of less than careful sexuality were sufficiently high, unwanted pregnancies would fall to a low floor level (not zero since there are always accidents and idiots). I think Jonathan Swift would approve of this compromise.
Seriously, I believe if we are to infringe on a woman’s right to control her body, the we must also infringe on the man’s right to control his.
82. TCoakley | 05.16.09
The planet already has more people than it can feed, and 51% of Americans think it is so important to add more that they are willing to enslave women to ensure that more are born. I hate how so many people feel they have the right to push their belief’s onto others, even if it is harmful to them. The same logic led to the crusades. Will the human race never mature?
84. GaryTiger | 05.16.09
I am a gay-orientated male since 11. I am also a devout Catholic since 17. Now nearly 60. All these comments and complaints have some vivid truth to them. Human Sexuality is so complex. Women get pregnant by men in lots of strange circumstances. I doubt anyone is reading this blog so far down, but this issue is a litmus test for anyones experiences as they rationalize their own world view. Making Abortion RARE, seems the way to go. This is still a political battle. I voted for OBAMA but still think he is a **** for speaking at Notre Dame. And Notre Dame should change its name. But; who knows? Maybe something will actually be said that helps.
85. Josh | 05.16.09
The issue of abortion isn’t one of religion or personal politics. It’s a firm and certain belief that the “certain… inalienable right… of life” is extended to all persons, regardless of their age/birth.
It’s not religion, it’s not abstinence education, it’s not sex ed, it’s not slavery, it’s not reproductive rights, it’s not female/male values.
It’s about life and not killing our own kids.
86. Viglet | 05.16.09
Let’s all discuss male responsibility for unwanted pregnancies.
When we’ve agreed on how to legislate that, the pro choice/pro life discussion may very well be obsolete.
87. Ted | 05.16.09
This is an absolutely meaningless question. It requires the general public to know what these abstract terms actually mean. It is subject to whatever the latest news might be.
Public opinion has changed little for decades. Americans are quesy about abortion but support the idea that is should be legal. Of course, they differ on the circumstances when it is proper or ethical. This includes concerns about both the woman’s motives and the time in the gestation. Late term abortions are considered more questionable. Since the woman’s motives cannot be known, the end effect is that most Americans support keeping it legal. Here is the real question to ask:
“If a women is pregnant and wishes to end the pregnancy, should the government and the police force her to continue the pregnancy against her will?”
I suspect very few Americans would say “yes” to this question. And yet, this is exactly what the “pro life” people intend.
88. Anne | 05.16.09
Have any of you ever had an abortion? It tears a woman apart and many women go into deep depression or try to commit suicide afterwards. Even Jane Roe regrets legalizing abortion, and she actually never had one. By the time she won her case she had her baby and realized how wrong she was.
Maybe some of you pro-death (choice, excuse me) people should look for people that don’t regret their abortions, before you talk.
89. gloriamundi | 05.16.09
Several times I’ve walked by a clinic and when I refused to take the pamphlets that pro-life protesters proffered, they yelled “Murderer!’ My mom was also one of these people, and her stance was a product of her Catholicism, which also urged things like “Spare the rod - spoil the child” and “wives submit yourselves unto your husbands.” Most people who run social programs for battered women understand that these three stances together make for an ongoing cycle of severely dis-empowered women and battered children. I don’t understand how so many followers of Christ, who advocated alleviating suffering, would stick so hard to a tertiary tenet like the ancient Hebrew prohibition against abortion, when modern sociologists recognize that forcing people to have babies against their will obviously promotes and perpetuates so much poverty and suffering.
Abortion is, to a very large degree, a symptom of the social problems of the ongoing assumption of male superiority and the “boys-will-be-boys” attitude, coupled with the gutting of social programs that attempt to help struggling people improve their lot in life enough to be able to form healthy relationships and support a child. “Pro-life” activists should be working to alleviate the conditions that cause women to choose the lesser evil of abortion over giving birth to the child of a dangerous, untrustworthy, or un-supportive man and having to raise the child in poverty.
90. frank burns | 05.17.09
The bible says that first God formed Adam, and then breathed life into him. God’s position couldn’t be clearer.
91. fred junesters | 05.17.09
Kyle, you have proven my point. Saying that Jesus Christ is going to sit in judgement on me at my death and sentence me to burn in hell for eternity, well, frankly, that is terrorism. Terrorists work that way.
92. Fran | 05.17.09
It is shameful that this issue continues to tear this country in two. We won’t ever be one until both sides take a real look at the facts and agree that 1) women have dominion over their own bodies, and 2) there is a point when the embryo/fetus does become a human being, well before viability. That point is most likely when some consciousness is present, or at the earliest, when some brain activity occurs. The Roman Catholic Church, which has always been full of contradictions (and reversals of infallible pronouncements, such as purgatory and when life begins), agrees that the soul is gone when brain activity ceases, even if the heart and lungs are operating on life support. How can there be a soul, a person, before even the most rudimentary brain activity begins? It doesn’t make sense, given that so many pregnancies end in natural miscarriage at a very early stage. (Of course cells are alive; that does not mean there is a person in that Petri dish.) Unfortunately, neither side will budge because of their fear that to give an inch is to give a mile. Of course, number one above will be a problem for the medieval-minded who still believe women should be the property of their husbands. BTW, I am sure President Obama will be far too respectful of the Church to mention how its hierarchy has allowed, aided and abetted the predator priests to sexually abuse children once they are born. I wish he would decline NDs honor; he’s too good for it.
93. stefers08 | 05.17.09
when comes to the issue of abortion, everyone needs to remeber that we live in a FREE country, free to make our own choices, free from government opression. If the government had the right to tell woman she HAS to have her baby, then the government might as well take away the Bill of Rights. I am pro-choice NOT pro-abortion or pro-death. I wish women didn’t have abortions but its THEIR choice!
I may not agree what what they decide, but I will defend to the death, their right to make their own decisions.
94. Lauren | 05.17.09
“Have any of you ever had an abortion? It tears a woman apart and many women go into deep depression or try to commit suicide afterwards.”
Ah, anti-choice rhetoric. It may be a few women’s experiences,(who all made a CHOICE). Research illustrates that adoption and childbirth can have the same effect, as well. Actually, post-partum depression is recognized by the professional medical community unlike “post-abortion syndrome”. But we don’t need to go in to all that.
Most women do not regret getting an abortion; they regret getting pregnant. That is why birth control education is KEY. Hopefully then abortion will become rare; but still legal and available for those who choose it.
So go on, call us pro choicers, “pro death”- judge us and freely display your disdain over us- how so very “Christian” of you.
95. fred junesters | 05.17.09
This site is the taliban. It rejects any opinion that is not politically correct. Regardless of its merits.
96. J of S of K | 05.18.09
If you are religious, pro-life, and believe in an Almighty God … if a woman decides to have an abortion, doesn’t it mean that God had some sort of plan, and that’s why this was the outcome? Wouldn’t the woman’s decision be part of God’s masterplan?
Btw, personally I don’t think I can go through with having an abortion for myself, but I also cannot decide what is best for another person. I guess that makes me pro-choice?
97. gloriamundi | 05.20.09
It is not a debate unless your opponent uses civility, logic, context, factual accuracy, and addresses your legitimate points. Every single experience I have had with the pro-life contingent has shown that they are not capable of debate. When I try to participate in comments threads with these people, I end up feeling brutalized, date-raped, and blamed for it all over again! The essay I wrote on the topic is published on newsvine.
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David Cook is Washington bureau chief of The Christian Science Monitor and host of the Monitor's newsmaker breakfasts. He was the Monitor's editor from 1994 to 2001. Cook is a graduate of Principia College, served in the U.S. Army, was a Bagehot Fellow at Columbia University, and is a member of the Gridiron Club, Washington's oldest journalistic organization.
1. General | 05.15.09
Please!!