Pro-Abortion Poll Shows Majority of Women Are Pro-Life

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
June 25, 2003

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A recent poll conducted by the pro-abortion Center for the Advancement of Women found something the authors didn't expect: a majority of American women take a pro-life position on abortion.

Only one-third (30%) say abortion should be generally available. Fifty-one percent took a pro-life position saying abortion should be illegal (17%) or restricted only to the rare cases of rape, incest or to prevent the death of the mother (34%).

(Source: Center for the Advancement of Women)

Faye Wattleton, president of the group, bemoaned the results of her own poll.

"There is significant and growing support for severe restrictions on abortion rights," Wattleton said.

The poll also found that keeping abortion legal was the next to last most important priority for women.

Fewer than half (41%) cite preserving abortion as a priority -- down from 49 percent in 2001. In comparison, 92% list domestic violence and assault as a primary concern. A close second (90%) is equal pay for equal work. Also of greater importance to women is the ability to take time off to care for family (74%), reducing drug & alcohol addiction (72%) and increasing women's study of math, science, and technology (66%).

This "is alarming news," the former Planned Parenthood president Wattleton said. "We are losing ground on many hard-won victories for women's rights, which could ambush the status that women have achieved."

Pro-life groups were pleased by the poll results and say they show women reject abortion.

"The poll clearly demonstrates that after 30 years of legal abortion, too many women know the truth -- either personally or from a friend or relative. Women in increasing numbers are rejecting the '70s notion that our right to education, participation in the workplace, our status in society or politics are linked to the idea that women have to pass as men in order to be equal," explained Feminists for Life President Serrin Foster.

"This polling data demonstrates that women are getting the message that abortion hurts women and is detrimental to women, families, and society," added Denise Burke, staff counsel with Americans United for Life. "Clearly, American women have rejected the mantra of abortion-on-demand advocated by pro-abortion forces."

"But, we must not congratulate ourselves yet," Burke told LifeNews.com. "We need to continue to educate the public about the danger of abortion and the damage that 30 years of abortion on demand has wrought."

The son of the founder of a leading national pollster said the results were not far off the marl. Those findings on abortion do not surprise pollster George Gallup Jr. ''We pretty much show the same thing.''

According to Wattleton, the poll showed that women, by a 2-1 margin, believed the Supreme Court would not overturn Roe v. Wade.

The study, is the result of two national random surveys of more than 3,300 women, and was conducted over two years by Princeton Survey Research Associates. The margin of error is 2 to 3 percentage points.