Gallup has released the results of a survey on abortion included in its annual survey of American citizens’ values and beliefs. Overall, the results contain some good news for pro-lifers. The results indicate that 41% of Americans identify themselves as “pro-life.” This is an increase of four percentage points from Gallup’s last year’s survey.
The poll contains some evidence that pro-lifers may have lost some ground on some individual political issues. The percentage of Americans who believe abortion should be legal in the first three months increased by two percentage points. However, the Gallup poll adds to the series of data showing strong public opposition to abortion after the first trimester. As Gallup notes, “specifically, nearly half of Americans, 47%, say abortion should be legal in all (34%) or most (13%) circumstances, while a similar percentage, 49%, want it to be legal in only some (36%) or illegal in all (13%) circumstances.” This means that 49% of Americans have a pro-life position that opposes all or most abortions, while 47% have a pro-abortion position that supports all or most abortions.
As the Gallup poll shows, support for abortion decreased after Dobbs and opposition to abortion increased after Dobbs. The 2022 Gallup poll showed that 53% of Americans support all or most abortions, while 45% of Americans oppose all or most abortions. This means that support for abortion has dropped 6% since Dobbs and opposition to abortion has increased 4% since Dobbs. This brings Americans closer to the historical average in Gallup polls.
In 42 Gallup polls between September 1994 and May 2021, a majority of respondents answered that abortion should be “legal only under certain circumstances” or “illegal under all circumstances.” Combined support for the two pro-life options in these 42 Gallup polls ranged from 52% to 63%. In the year since the Dobbs decision was released, media coverage of sanctity of life issues has been exceptionally skewed. There have been countless stories about the public health problems allegedly caused by pro-life laws. However, very little has been said about the work done by pregnancy centers or the policies that many states have put in place to assist pregnant women and mothers.
Despite the hostility of the media and the promotion of abortion by President Biden and many state governments, many Americans are still willing to protect unborn children in the womb. In all of this, perhaps Gallup itself did not even notice the results of its poll and said in the headline, “Widespread support for abortion continues after Dobbs ruling.”