Americans, Women Say in Poll: Abortion is Morally Wrong, Too Easy to Obtain
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
August 16, 2010
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — A new national poll finds Americans and a majority of women, say abortion is both morally wrong and too easy to obtain. The new Rasmussen Reports poll also finds most likely voters say abortion is at least somewhat important when they consider the issues that will guide their vote in November.
The national survey finds nearly half, 48 percent, of Americans continue to believe abortions are too easy to obtain in the United States.
That’s higher than the 33 percent who disagree and say they are too hard to get (15 percent) or believe the level of difficulty is just right (23 percent).
Another 14 percent of Americans are unsure — a high number that appears to indicate how many Americans don’t understand the nation’s abortion laws, which allow virtually unlimited abortions for any reason throughout pregnancy.
Women (53 percent) feel more strongly than men (42%) that abortions are too easy to get, which belies the notion abortion advocates promote that women support abortion more than men.
Also unchanged from past Rasmussen surveys is the response to the question of whether abortions are seen as morally wrong.
Some 54 percent say abortion is morally wrong most of the time while 32 percent disagree and 14 percent are undecided. Again, women are more pro-life than men as 58% of women believe that abortion is morally wrong in most cases, compared to 49% of men.
The Rasmussen poll also found 61 percent of voters say abortion is at least somewhat important as an issue in terms of how they will vote in November, with 33% who say it is very important. This appears to refute the mainstream media notion that abortion is no longer an important issue to American voters in congressional and presidential races.
Just 37 percent say abortion is either not very or not at all important to them as a voting issue.
The poll also found what most others have other the years — that abortion is a political issue that drives the pro-life side more than the pro-abortion side. Rasmussen noted that pro-life voters "are twice as likely as those who are pro-choice to say abortion as an issue is important to how they vote this fall."
Rasmussen also found 40 percent of voters trust Democrats more when it comes to the abortion issue, while 37% trust Republicans more. Twenty-three percent are unsure which party more closely aligns with their abortion views. Sixty-two percent of pro-abortion voters trust Democrats more while 66 percent of those who are pro-life have more confidence in the GOP.
The survey does have one divergent result compared with other recent polls from Gallup and other polling firms. It found 49 percent of all voters describe themselves as "pro-choice" while 43% say they are pro-life.
Ninety-one percent (91%) of pro-life voters say abortion is morally wrong most of the time, but 61% of those who are pro-choice do not share that view.
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