A CNN/ORC International poll released Thursday shows that 62 percent of the respondents believe abortion should be made illegal under most or all circumstances.
The telephone poll of 1,038 voters, conducted by ORC between Sept. 9 and 11, covered a broad range of social issues — from terrorism and immigration to gay marriage and the theory of evolution — and carried a margin of error of +/- 3 percent.
According to the results, 41 percent of respondents said abortion should be "legal in a few circumstances," and 21 percent said it should be "illegal in all circumstances"; 25 percent felt it should be "legal under any circumstances," and 12 percent said it should be "legal in most circumstances."
Those numbers have proven consistent over the last five years. In 2006, 2007 and 2009, 40 percent said abortion should be legal some of the time; 39 percent said so in 2008 and 42 percent agreed in 2010. The percentage of those believing it should be banned in all circumstances dropped from 24 percent in 2006 to 22 percent in 2007 and 2008 before rising to 23 percent in 2009. It dropped back to 22 percent in 2010.
"This continues the trend that we've seen over the last several years — the majority of Americans are solidly pro-life," said Dawn McBane, CitizenLink's bioethics analyst. "This perspective also accounts for the passage of a record number of state life-protecting laws this year."
Contact: Karla Dial
Source: CitizenLink
