First Poll With Abortion Question Following Tiller Shooting Shows Little Change

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Jun 9, 2009   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

First Poll With Abortion Question Following Tiller Shooting Shows Little Change

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
June 9
, 2009

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — The first poll with an abortion-related question following the shooting of late-term abortion practitioner George Tiller shows little change from a slew of polls in May showing a pro-life majority. Five surveys last month showed either pro-life majorities or movement in the pro-life direction on abortion.

Rasmussen Reports conducted a new national survey on June 3-4, days after the May 31 shooting death of Tiller in Kansas.

The survey asked 1,000 likely voters across the country to say which political party they tended to trust more on a range of political issues.

When it comes to abortion, Americans trusted both Republicans and Democrats evenly on a 41-41 percent margin with 18 percent saying they didn’t know.

Although the question did not ask for abortion views, Republicans are generally viewed as pro-life and Democrats are generally viewed as pro-abortion. As such, the poll provides a limited snapshot of an evenly divided American public.

That cursory examination of public opinion on abortion is not too dissimilar from the polls showing a closely divided public.

A Rasmussen Reports survey released May 5 found that 58 percent of Americans say abortion is morally wrong most of the time and a seven percent increase in the number of Americans who say abortions are too easy to obtain.

The Polling Company conducted a late May survey showing a plurality, 47 percent, took a pro-life position while 45 percent said they were "pro-choice" when it comes to abortion. However, a second question, asking respondents to delineate their specific position on when abortion should be legal, found a 14 percent pro-life majority.

A May Gallup poll found 51% of Americans calling themselves pro-life and just 42 percent saying they are "pro-choice" and supporting legal abortions.

Fox News conducted a poll conducted May 12-13 found 49 percent of Americans say they are pro-life while just 43 percent say they are "pro-choice.

And a Pew poll released at the end of April found the support for legal abortions has dropped to its lowest level in 15 years.

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