Abortion and Public Opinion

I was doing some research and came across a set of data from the Wall Street Journal that, frankly surprised me. It was an article about a Harris poll taken in 2006. The questions were about Americans' opinion about abortion -- specifically, Roe v Wade. Now, if I were to ask you before telling you the results what you thought they would be, what would you say? Based on the yelling and screaming offered in most media outlets today, I would have assumed off the bat that a majority of Americans were in favor of legalized abortion. Oh, maybe not a large majority, but at least a majority. Apparently I would be wrong.

The poll had some really fascinating results. In 2006 (the latest version of this poll), for instance, general support for Roe v Wade was at 49%, with 47% opposed. Now, 49% is less than a majority. It was, in fact, an all-time low. Back in the late 70's and again in the early 90's, support was up in the 60% range. No longer.

The poll results got even stranger when I dug into them. Harris asked whether people favored laws that made it more difficult to get an abortion. Some 40% favored "no change", but another 40% favored more restrictions. When they asked, "In general, do you favor permitting a woman who wants one to have an abortion in all circumstances, some circumstances or no circumstances?", I was surprised at the results. In almost a flatline response over the years, 26% to 30% favored "all circumstances." For "no circumstances" the figure ranged from 14% to 21%. The largest number, of course, was "some circumstances", ranging from 53% to 58%.

Why do these numbers surprise me? Well, I'm led to believe from all the public outcry that Americans are strongly in favor of abortion on demand. They want it legal. They want it available. And they want little restrictions. Oh, perhaps in the last trimester it wouldn't be okay, but they want it! Apparently the point has been missed. It appears instead that 1) overall support of abortion rights is slipping, and 2) what people really want is that abortion not be outlawed, but that it certainly be regulated. To put it another way, they don't want an unrestricted "woman's right to choose", but neither do they want no option for abortion.

I frankly don't know where most people stand on abortion. I believe that most who are opposed to killing babies in the womb see an exception in the case of a mother's life at risk. (Note: It is not abortions to which they are opposed; it is killing babies.) It appears that most who favor giving women the choice do not favor unconditional abortions. And the decline in the overall numbers who favor Roe v Wade is telling in itself. Maybe, just maybe, what we're being fed in the media isn't exactly accurate.