America's New Take on Abortion
New Gallup Poll Uncovers America’s Increasing Support of Pro-Life
May 19, 2009
Gallup’s annual Values and Beliefs Survey conducted May 7-10 found that 51 percent of Americans say they are “pro-life” while just 42 percent say they are “pro-choice.”
Public Opinion on Abortion in America
The results mark quite a shift in public opinion. Despite a pro-choice president openly in support of the Freedom of Choice Act and the funding of abortion overseas, Americans are beginning to lean more to the right of this long-debated issue.
Just a year ago, Gallup’s same study found 50 percent of Americans saying they were “pro-choice” while 44 percent considered themselves “pro-life.” Now, about as many Americans who say abortion should be illegal in all circumstances (23 percent) say it should be legal (22 percent).
The poll concluded that this shift toward a more conservative perspective on abortion is coming not from Democrats, but from within the Republican and Independent parties. According to the poll’s results, the percentage of Republicans considering themselves “pro-life” rose by 10 percentage points over the past year, from 60 to 70 percent.
Obama: “Open Hearts, Open Minds”
While it’s hard to say what exactly is causing a change in public opinion, Gallup’s poll results suggest that President Obama’s abortion policies have pushed America’s definition of “pro-choice” a bit more to the left. Though Democrats’ perspectives on the issue seem to remain unchanged, Obama’s liberalization of abortion may be causing moderate Americans to think more conservatively on this issue.
Though his policies on abortion are undoubtedly liberal, in his recent commencement speech at the University of Notre Dame, Obama challenged graduates to keep the debate on abortion open to all perspectives. “Open hearts, open minds, fair minded words,” he said.
Obama's Perspective on Abortion
Rather than use the opportunity to articulate his own stance on abortion to a mostly “pro-life” Catholic audience, Obama encouraged graduates to accept that “the views of the two camps are irreconcilable. Each side will continue to make its case to the public with passion and conviction,” he said. “But surely we can do so without reducing those with differing views to caricature.”
Nancy Gibbs, TIME Magazine’s editor-at-large, credits Obama’s “putting politics aside” mentality. In her May 18 article “Understanding America’s Shift on Abortion,” Gibbs states Obama “has left gay marriage to the states, dropped family-planning money from the stimulus bill, refused to fund needle-exchange programs and said he wants to tamp down some of the anger surrounding the abortion issue.”
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