Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this guest post are solely those of the author and are not necessarily reflective of Live Action or Live Action News.
On Friday, the Associated Press released the results of a poll on abortion attitudes they conducted in mid-June with the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. The survey results contain good news for pro-lifers, indicating that 65% of Americans think that second trimester abortions should be “illegal in all or most cases.” Similarly, the poll also found that 80% of Americans think that third trimester abortions should be illegal “in all or most cases.”
The results of this poll are broadly consistent with other surveys which show that strong majorities of Americans oppose abortion after the first trimester.
The demographic breakdown of the results was interesting. The poll found strong opposition to second and third trimester abortions across a wide range of demographic groups. In fact, self-identified Democrats and those who identified as “non-religious” were the only two demographic groups in which a majority of respondents thought that second trimester abortions should be “legal in all or most circumstances.” Majorities of independents, Republicans, Evangelical Christians, and those from other religions opposed second trimester abortions. Additionally, when it comes to third trimester abortions, strong majorities of all demographic groups surveyed — including Democrats and the non-religious — thought third trimester abortions should be illegal “in all or most cases.”
READ: New Gallup poll isn’t the ‘gotcha’ abortion supporters think it is. Here’s why.
Overall, the Associated Press deserves credit for conducting and publicizing this poll. Survey research firms ask questions about late-term abortions much less frequently than other questions about abortion attitudes. For instance, since 1995, Gallup has conducted over 30 surveys in which they asked respondents if they were “pro-life” or “pro-choice.” However, Gallup has only asked questions about second and third trimester abortions six times during that time span.
Overall, pro-lifers would do well to publicize this Associated Press poll. The results very effectively counter the narrative pushed by many mainstream media outlets that the abortion policy regime established by Roe v. Wade enjoys broad public support.
Michael J. New is a Research Associate at the Busch School of Business and an Associate Scholar at the Charlotte Lozier Institute. Follow him on Twitter @Michael_J_New.
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