Percentage of Voters Who Call Themselves Pro-Life at All-Time High

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Jul 7, 2014   |   12:09PM   |   Washington, DC

The  percentage of American voters who call themselves pro-life is at an all-time high, according to a new national survey from Rasmussen Reports.

Although other polls show a high percentage of voters call themselves pro-life or take a pro-life stance opposing all or most abortions, the Rasmussen Reports survey still provides good news for the pro-life movement heading into the midterm elections.

prolifeyouth3“A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 48% of Likely U.S. Voters now consider themselves pro-choice, while 44% are pro-life,” the polling firm wrote about its new poll. “The percentage of pro-choice voters is down from March’s all-time high of 56% and is the lowest level measured in the past year. Prior to the latest survey, the number of pro-life voters ranged from 35% to 43%.”

The poll shows some Americans who take a pro-life position on abortion still confusingly call themselves pro-choice, as Americans, when asked about abortion in general without using the two popular terms, take a pro-life perspective.

“Fifty-two percent (52%) of voters now consider abortion to be morally wrong most of the time, up slightly from 49% in March but also the highest finding since August 2012. Thirty-two percent (32%) believe abortion is morally acceptable in most cases, while 16% are undecided,” Rasmussen indicated.

From the poll:

Thirty-nine percent (39%) of voters think it is too easy to get an abortion in the United States today, while 21% believe it is too hard. One-in-four voters (25%) think the level of difficulty in getting an abortion is about right, while 16% more are not sure. These findings are generally in line with past surveys.

Forty-nine percent (49%) think there should be a mandatory waiting period before a woman is allowed to get an abortion, which ties January’s recent high. Thirty-seven percent (37%) disagree. Fourteen percent (14%) are not sure.

Voters by a 49% to 39% margin agree with this past week’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling in the Hobby Lobby case that business owners should be able to opt out of the new health care law’s requirement that they provide health insurance with free contraception if it violates their religious beliefs.

Sixty-four percent (64%) of voters view abortion as at least somewhat important to how they will vote in the next congressional election, including 34% who say it is Very Important. Thirty percent (30%) say the issue is not important to their vote, including 11% who say it is Not At All Important. These findings, too, are in line with past polling.

As is usually the case, pro-life voters place more importance on abortion as a voting issue than pro-choice voters do.

Forty-nine percent (49%) of women are pro-choice, while 40% are pro-life. Men are more closely divided on the question. Fifty percent (50%) of women still believe abortion is morally wrong in most cases, compared to 54% of men. Women are slightly more likely to see abortion as a Very Important voting issue.

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Republicans place more importance on abortion as a voting issue than Democrats and voters not affiliated with either party do. Most GOP voters (66%) are pro-life, while most Democrats (63%) are pro-choice. Unaffiliated voters by a 48% to 41% margin lean toward being pro-choice.

Seventy-one percent (71%) of Evangelical Christians and 56% of Catholics are pro-life, but majorities of voters of other faiths are pro-choice.

One year ago after several states advanced new restrictive abortion laws, 44% of voters favored a ban on abortion after 20 weeks. Forty-one percent (41%) opposed such a ban.

The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on June 30 – July 1, 2014 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.