Support for Abortion Slips
Overview
Polls conducted in 2009 have found fewer Americans expressing support for abortion than in previous years. In Pew Research Center polls in 2007 and 2008, supporters of legal abortion clearly outnumbered opponents; now Americans are evenly divided on the question, and there have been modest increases in the numbers who favor reducing abortions or making them harder to obtain. Less support for abortion is evident among most demographic and political groups.
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The shift in opinion is broad-based, appearing in most demographic groups in the population. One of the largest shifts (10 points) has occurred among white, non-Hispanic Catholics who attend Mass at least weekly. Substantial change has also occurred among Democratic men (with support for abortion down nine points), but not among Democratic women.
This shift in at udes is also evident on other measures of public opinion about restrictions on abortion. For instance, four-in-ten Americans (41%) now say they favor making it more difficult to obtain an abortion, up six points from 35% in 2007. Similar movement is seen on the question of whether it would be good to reduce the number of abortions in this country; in 2005, 59% of respondents agreed it would be good to reduce abortions. Today 65% take this view, an increase of six points. And three-quarters (76%) continue to favor requiring minors to obtain the permission of a parent before having an abortion.
The latest national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press and the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, conducted Aug. 11-27 among 4,013 adults reached on both landlines and cell phones, also finds that fewer people say abortion is a critical issue today (15%) compared with 2006, when 28% described abortion as a critical issue facing the country.
The timing of this shift in at udes on abortion suggests it could be connected to Obama's election. The decline in support for legal abortion first appeared in polls in the spring of 2009. Overall, roughly three-in-ten (29%) think Obama will handle the abortion issue about right as president. One-in-five Americans (19%) worry that Obama will go too far in supporting abortion rights, while very few (4%) express the opposite concern that Obama will not go far enough to support abortion rights. Concern about Obama's handling of abortion is especially evident on the right; fully half of conservative Republicans (52%) worry that Obama will go too far in supporting abortion rights. However, nearly one-in-five political independents (18%) also worry that Obama will go too far in support of abortion rights.
The poll finds that four-in-ten Americans are unaware of Obama's position on the abortion issue. Conservative Republicans, however, are more likely than any other group to know Obama's position, with 75% correctly identifying him as "pro-choice" rather than "pro-life."
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The survey also reveals continued polarization over abortion. Even as the public expresses support for finding a middle ground, most Americans are quite certain that their own position on abortion is the right one, with only a quarter (26%) saying they ever wonder about their views on the issue. This is a slight decline since 2006, when 30% expressed doubts about their own view on abortion. Furthermore, many people on both sides of the issue say that the opposite point of view on abortion is not a "respectable" opinion for someone to hold. Nearly half of abortion opponents (47%), including 62% of those who say abortion should be illegal in all cases, say that a pro-choice view is not a respectable opinion for someone to hold. On the other side, 42% of abortion supporters (including 54% of those who want abortion to be legal in all cases) say the pro-life point of view is not respectable.
The latest national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press and the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, conducted Aug. 11-27 among 4,013 adults reached on both landlines and cell phones, also finds that fewer people say abortion is a critical issue today (15%) compared with 2006, when 28% described abortion as a critical issue facing the country.
Support for abortion slips? Support for personal choice slips, is what you mean.
A single poll really doesn't mean anything until it is confirmed by others.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/02/us/02abortion.html?hpPolls conducted by some other organizations within the last few months have found opinion on abortion to be more stable. In an ABC News/Washington Post poll in June, for example, 55 percent of respondents said abortion should be legal in all or most cases, while 43 percent said it should be illegal in all or most cases — close to the average in their polls since 1995.
Times/CBS News polls have also found essentially no change in Americans’ overall views of abortion. In a Times/CBS News poll in June (which asked a differently worded question than the Pew or ABC/Post polls did), 36 percent said abortion should be generally available; 41 percent said it should be available but under stricter limits than it is now; and 21 percent said it should not be permitted — close to the average in New York Times or CBS News polls dating back 20 years.
The inconsistency between polls makes it hard to draw a firm conclusion about whether at udes are shifting. And it underscores how sensitive poll results are to questions about abortion.
It's not an issue for people because there is no forseeable threat to take it away from them, if there was i think more people would be concerened.
It's just a stupid poll.
It means nothing.
it just means nobody cares about it cause they care about the economy
Polls can be manipulated to say whatever they want.
Look up Frank Luntz and what he does
Support for the murder of innocent children slips is what I think he meant.
So if the outcome doesn't support your ideas, then it is manipulated.
If I just attacked poll taking and reminded everyone that it can be manipulated,
on what grounds would I stand on if I tried to accept other polls that support my beliefs?
Such a stupid argument. Saying something can be manipulated is pointless. Either this poll was manipulated or it wasn't. If you have evidence it was, then post it.
Public opinion research is accurate when you look at the aggregate of many polls. Single polls may or may not show an accurate picture but when you look over the data of multiple polls they do a very good job of giving accurate figures.
I don't have a problem with this poll in the least nor do I have any reason to believe it has been manipulated in anyway. I take it for what its worth, one poll which out of a series of polls does not show the same thing. Thats not to say its wrong, that just means you need more evidence of the trend it points to with further polls.
everyone knows polls can be manipulated by simply the way you ask the question. first thing you learn in statistics. the only thing i remember getting my C
Yup. Polls are worthless, and sometimes, there is an agenda behind it.
Then explain to me why public opinion research has proven time and time again a good indicator and measurement tool?
Yup. Polls are worthless, and sometimes, there is an agenda behind it.
No ! Just not the pieces of garbage currently coming out of washington!85% of Americans support health care reform.
Lol at the Obama administration acting as if "health care reform" is synonymous with THEIR health care reform.
an example of distorting a survey is ACLU ppl standing outside one of the most liberal sides of DC givin a survey about abortion and then talkin about the results like it is a true sample of DC.
Thanks for the example. What is the point?
Yup.
That's how these polls work sometimes. Not all the time, but it happens and you can never trust these polls since you don't know the methods behind it.
It is so easy to manipulate and get inaccurate results. Heck, even if you did the poll correctly and honestly, the results still can't be trusted.
Let's say you chose 1,000 random people. It could be that you, by complete LUCK and CHANCE, ended up with 70% chocolate chip eaters. However, if you continued and polled everyone in the country, the result might be 34%.
It's just stupid to listen to polls. Most of the time it's done to try to sway public opinion with sheep herd mentality
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