Pro-Life Advocates Hail New Poll Showing American Pro-Life Majority on Abortion
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
May 15, 2009
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — The results of a new Gallup poll showing a majority of Americans taking a pro-life position on abortion is good news to pro-life advocates who have been engaged for years in the human rights struggle. They say the results show the educational efforts they’ve engaged in are finally paying dividends.
Dr. David O’Steen, the executive director of the National Right to Life Committee, told LifeNews.com that the Gallup polling data shows Americans are getting an understanding of what "pro-choice" really means.
"For years the abortion movement and pro-abortion groups like Planned Parenthood have hidden behind the slogan ‘pro-choice,’ but this Gallup poll shows that their deceptive rhetorical tactic is breaking down and people are realizing that pro-choice really means abortion," he said.
O’Steen also says that the election of President Barack Obama, and the extensive pro-abortion record he has already compiled is showing Americans that pro-choice really means pro-abortion.
"The pro-abortion movement previously framed the issue by making it a question of choice, allowing committed pro-abortionists like Obama to say they don’t like abortion while remaining ‘pro-choice,’" O’Steen explained. "Had they admitted all along that they were radically pro-abortion, they would have been far less successful politically."
"However now, as this Gallup poll indicates, people see through the facade and realize that the question really is, ‘are you for or against abortion?’ and the public’s answer does not bode well for the pro-abortion movement," the Right to Life leader added.
The Gallup poll results, showing a 51-42 percent pro-life majority on abortion, could be dismissed if not for a recent Pew poll showing similar high results for the pro-life side of the abortion debate.
The Pew poll, conducted March 31-April 21 among 1,521 adults, found 46 percent of Americans say abortion should be legal in most cases (28%) or all cases (18%) and 44 percent of Americans believe that abortion should be illegal in most (28%) or all cases (16%).
That two point margin in favor of abortion is the lowest margin since 1995 as Pew, and other polling firms, have been asking the same polling question of Americans across the country every year.
Other pro-life groups also chimed in on the new Gallup polling results.
"This dramatic shift of more people becoming pro-life did not happen in a vacuum," Wendy Wright, President of Concerned Women for America, told LifeNews.com. "In the last two decades, ultrasounds have made people aware that abortion kills a baby, and women have been vocal about regretting their abortion."
She agreed that Obama is showing what pro-choice really means.
"But the most significant development in the last year is that America has the most pro-abortion president in our history. Barack Obama has revealed what ‘pro-choice’ means — taxpayer funded abortions, eliminating common-sense regulations, rescinding protections for doctors and medical providers who decline to participate in abortion," Wright said.
"’Pro-choice’ means taking away people’s choices — a baby’s right to live, a woman’s right to know the harms of abortion before she undergoes one, taxpayers’ right not to be forced to pay for other people’s abortions, medical providers freedom not to participate in abortions," she concluded.
Sign Up for Free Pro-Life News From LifeNews.com
Daily Pro-Life News Report Twice-Weekly Pro-Life
News Report Receive a free daily email report from LifeNews.com with the latest pro-life news stories on abortion, euthanasia and stem cell research. Sign up here. Receive a free twice-weekly email report with the latest pro-life news headlines on abortion, euthanasia and stem cell research. Sign up here.
