Survey Says: 79% of Americans Back Major Restrictions on Abortion
As the United States marks the 39th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision this week, a new survey shows that the vast majority of Americans support significant restrictions on abortion.
The poll, commissioned by the Knights of Columbus, found that 79 percent of Americans say that they would not allow abortion after the first three months of pregnancy. Fifty-one percent would only allow abortion – at most – in cases of rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother – or would not allow it at all.
The numbers have held up over time, being almost unchanged from the same poll by the Knights of Columbus two years ago.
“Almost four decades after the Supreme Court’s decisions in Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, which resulted in the almost totally unrestricted abortion regime of today, these decisions continue to be out of step with the vast majority of Americans,” said Supreme Knight Carl Anderson.
The survey also found that 84 percent of Americans believe that laws can protect both the life of the unborn and the health and well-being of women. That number was consistent with – and slightly higher than – findings two years ago when the number who said both could be protected was 81 percent.
“Far from being settled law, the inadequacy of the Court’s reasoning on abortion in Roe and Doe is readily apparent to most Americans,” said Anderson. “Once a survey moves beyond the labels of pro-life and pro-choice, we see a fundamental unity among Americans in favor of significant abortion restrictions.”
The Knights of Columbus released the poll on Monday to coincide with the March for Life in Washington, D.C., where hundreds of thousands of pro-life citizens gathered at the National Mall calling for protections for children in the womb.
The poll, conducted between Dec. 15th and 27th, details the findings from a telephone survey of 1,053 adults residing in the continental United States. The margin of error is +/- 3 percentage points.
Find the Knights of Columbus-Marist poll.
