The percentage of the U.S. population that considers itself pro-life has increased in the year since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Forty-four percent of Americans describe themselves as pro-life, up from 39 percent in 2022, a recent Gallup poll found.
At the same time 52 percent of Americans call themselves pro-choice, a decline from the near-record-high 55 percent who used that label in 2022. The record on both ends of the spectrum was set in 1995 when 56 percent described themselves as pro-choice and 33 percent pro-life.
The news may be surprising in light of a decidedly pro-choice news media industry, Hollywood, public universities and other institutions controlled by liberals.
The poll contains “some good news for pro-lifers,” said Michael J. New, assistant professor at the Catholic University of America and a senior associate scholar at the Charlotte Lozier Institute. Even so, he said, it “contains some evidence that pro-lifers might have lost a little bit of ground on some individual policy questions.”
For example, support for legal abortion in the first three months of pregnancy, the first trimester, hit a record high of 69 percent. Support for legal abortion is significantly less in the second trimester (37 percent support) and the third trimester (22 percent). “The Gallup poll adds to the body of survey data that show strong public opposition to abortion after the first trimester,” New wrote.
On another question, 49 percent of Americans say abortion should either be illegal in all circumstances or legal in only a few circumstances, an increase of 2 percent from 2022. A total of 47 percent say abortion should be legal under any or legal under most circumstances.
“In the year since the leak of the Dobbs decision, mainstream media coverage of sanctity-of-life issues has been exceptionally biased,” New wrote. “There have been countless stories about public-health problems purportedly caused by pro-life laws. However, there has been very little coverage of the work done by pregnancy help centers or the policies that many states have put in place to assist pregnant women.
“As pro-lifers gather in Washington, D.C., next weekend to celebrate the anniversary of the Dobbs decision, we should take heart. Despite a great deal of media hostility, many Americans remain receptive to protecting preborn children.”
–Dwight Widaman | Metro Voice
