Washington Post Abortion Poll Gives Unclear Picture of Public Opinion 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
November 12, 2007
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — A new poll conducted jointly by the Washington Post and ABC News gives an unclear picture of where Americans stand on the issue of abortion. The poll makes it appear 55 percent of respondents think abortion should be legal but the polling question does not adequately say when most abortions are done.
The poll included telephone interviews with 1,131 American adults and was conducted from October 29 through November 1.
The question on abortion asked, "Do you think abortion should be legal in all cases, legal in most cases, illegal in most cases or illegal in all cases?"
According to the results, it appears 53 percent say abortion should be legal in all cases (19%) or in most cases (36%) while 43 percent take a pro-life position that abortion should always be illegal (16%) or be legal in most cases (27%).
However, the poll does not tell respondents that most abortions are done for social reasons, not in hard cases like rape or incest or to save the mother’s life or protect her health. Sizable numbers of Americans erroneously believe otherwise, despite Planned Parenthood’s own figures showing that not to be the case.
Recent polls that allow respondent to more accurately say when they think abortions should or shouldn’t be allowed find a majority of Americans are clearly pro-life.
A recent Fox News poll reveals that a majority of Americans oppose the overwhelming majority of abortions that take place in the United States and a Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times survey found 50 percent of Americans opposed all or almost all abortions.
Surveys from CBS News reveal that a majority of Americans oppose abortions in about 98 percent of all cases.
