Gallup Poll Shows Americans Still Pro-Life as People Say Abortion is Morally Wrong

National   |   Micaiah Bilger   |   Jun 5, 2018   |   10:04AM   |   Washington, DC

A new Gallup poll finds Americans’ beliefs about abortion have not changed.

More Americans (48 percent) still believe abortion (the killing of an unborn baby) is morally wrong, while 43 percent believe it is morally acceptable, according to Gallup.

These poll numbers have remained consistent over the past several years. Thanks to modern medical advances and the educational work of the pro-life movement, the humanity of the unborn child is clearer than ever to the average American.

Pew conducts a similar poll about the morality of abortion, but its question and findings are slightly different. According to its 2017 poll, “More than four-in-ten Americans (44%) say having an abortion is morally wrong, while 19% think it is morally acceptable and 34% say it is not a moral issue.” The difference is Pew asks whether having an abortion is morally wrong or morally acceptable, while Gallup asks if an abortion is morally wrong or acceptable.

The new Gallup poll asked Americans about the morality of many different issues, ranging from smoking marijuana to having sex outside of marriage to wearing clothing made of animal fur.

Two other questions of interest to pro-lifers involve assisted suicide and human cloning, both of which are life-destroying practices.

Euthanasia advocates have been pushing to legalize assisted suicide across America. Hawaii became the sixth state to legalize it in April. However, the California law recently was overturned in court.

According to Gallup, a slim majority of Americans are buying into the false “death with dignity” claims of the euthanasia movement, with 54 percent saying doctor-assisted suicide is morally acceptable. In contrast, 42 percent said the deadly practice is morally wrong.

The good news is the number is down slightly from 2017, when 57 percent said doctor-assisted suicide is morally acceptable. In 2016, it was 53 percent and, in 2015, it was 56 percent.

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Interestingly, Americans widely oppose suicide itself, with 75 percent describing it as morally wrong, compared to 20 percent who find it morally acceptable, according to the poll.

Gallup, which has been asking these questions since 2001, noted that many Americans have adopted more “permissive views” in the past decade.

But, as Dave Andrusko of National Right to Life News wrote about the 2017 poll, the assisted suicide and abortion numbers have stayed fairly steady across the past several years.

“In other words the numbers have stabilized (albeit at a high number) in spite of a cavalcade of pro-assisted suicide initiatives and a media that can’t say enough good things about having a doctor help you kill yourself,” he wrote.

Human cloning saw some of the strongest moral opposition of any issue in the new poll. A full 81 percent of respondents said human cloning is morally wrong, while just 16 percent said it is morally acceptable.