May 20, 2016

Gallup poll a gold mine of useful information and misleading inferences

As is always the case with Gallup and abortion, the latest post from veteran Gallup writer Lydia Saad is informative. In places it also makes you scratch your head and occasionally it’s deeply misleading. (The figures come from Gallup’s 2016 Values and Beliefs poll, conducted May 4-8.)

The headline is understandable, given that Donald Trump’s views on abortion are a work in progress: “Most ‘Pro-Life’ Americans Unsure About Trump’s Abortion Views.”

But what is far more interesting is that after decades of unabashed, straight-forward, unambiguous promotion of abortion, Hillary Clinton’s views are unknown, or at least unclear, to many pro-choice adults.

Let’s compare the responses to the presumptive nominees of the Republican and Democratic parties, respectively. Saad writes

Sixty-three percent of Americans who describe themselves as “pro-life” are unable to say whether they agree or disagree with Trump on the abortion issue. The rest are about equally divided between agreeing (19%) and disagreeing (18%) with him.

Clinton?

Hillary Clinton is unambiguously pro-abortion rights and has talked about her strong support for women’s reproductive rights for decades. Nevertheless, the public is only a bit less vague about her stance on the issue compared with Trump’s. Overall, 22% of Americans say they agree with her views and 32% disagree, while 46% are unsure.

Click here for more from National Right to Life.