Gallup Polls: Americans Back Senate Vote on Abortion-Parental Involvement

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Jul 27, 2006   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Gallup Polls: Americans Back Senate Vote on Abortion-Parental Involvement Email this article
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
July 27, 2006

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — A report issued Thursday from the Gallup Organization says that polls consistently show Americans support parental notification and consent laws on abortion — the kind of laws a bill the Senate approved Tuesday would uphold. The measure would prohibit taking teens to another state in a violation of those laws in her home state.

Gallup News Service senior editor Lydia Saad explained that the vote will go over well with Americans since an overwhelming majority favor the abortion laws.

"This is likely to prove a politically safe vote for the 65 senators who backed the bill, as more than two-thirds of Americans say they favor laws requiring female minors to get parental consent for any abortion," Saad wrote in her Thursday report.

According to a November 2005 Gallup Poll, 69% of Americans favor laws requiring women under 18 to obtain parental consent for any abortion; only 28% are opposed. Support for parental consent has hovered around the 70% mark since opinion on the issue was first measured by Gallup in 1992.

Support for the pro-life laws is ubiquitous among political ideologies as 78 percent of Republicans, 71 percent of independents and 59 percent of Democrats back parental consent on abortion.

Support for parental consent is slightly higher among men than among women (74% vs. 65%), Gallup polls show.

Saad also said that the vote comes at a time when Americans want all or most abortions illegal.

"The bill was passed in an environment in which a majority of Americans think abortion should be legal in only a few circumstances or completely illegal," she explained.

A May 2006 Gallup poll found 54 percent of Americans say abortion should be legal in only a few circumstances or illegal in all circumstances while just 43% of Americans say abortion should be legal under any circumstances or in most circumstances.

Other polls from CBS News, Wirthlin Worldwide, and the polling company have shown a similar 55-45 percent split with a majority of Americans opposing all or most abortions.