Fox News Poll Confirms Gallup: More Americans Say They’re Pro-Life on Abortion
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
May 18, 2009
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — A new poll conducted by the Opinion Dynamics research firm for Fox News confirms the results of a new Gallup survey. Like the Gallup poll, the Fox News survey finds more Americans say they are pro-life than "pro-choice" on abortion and the number is the highest since 1997.
The May 12-13 Opinion Dynamics survey asked respondents, "On the issue of abortion, would you say you are more pro-life or more pro-choice?
It found 49 percent of Americans say they are pro-life while just 43 percent say they are "pro-choice." Another six percent said a little of both and two percent didn’t know where they stood.
The poll also found that Republicans take a pro-life position by a 69-27 percent margin, Independent voters have a pro-life view by a 51-40 percent spread and Democrats support abortion 57-34 percent.
Republicans were least likely to say they held a combination of the two beliefs on abortion or that they didn’t know where they stood. Nine percent of both Democrats and independents had mixed views or didn’t know their position.
The six point pro-life plurality is the biggest pro-life spread since April 2004, when the Opinion Dynamics survey showed a 47-44 percent pro-life margin. And the 49 percent pro-life showing is the highest since the polling firm started asking the question in polls in 1997.
The Fox News poll showed a pro-life low of 37 percent in October 2007 and the last time the "pro-choice" side polled as low as 43 percent was in January 2000. The "pro-choice" side posted a historic low of 42 percent in January 1999.
Polling for the Opinion Dynamics survey was conducted by telephone May 12-13 and it included 900 registered voters nationwide with a margin of error of +/- 3 percentage points.
The new Gallup poll, released Friday, found 51 percent of Americans calling themselves pro-life and just 42 percent saying they are "pro-choice" and supporting legal abortions.
The poll finds a plurality of women say they are pro-life — with 49 percent saying so and just 44 percent saying they are "pro-choice." Men favor the pro-life position on a 54 to 39 percent margin. Both numbers are record highs for the pro-life position.
The Gallup poll also shows more Americans support making abortions illegal than at any point in the past 15 years.
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