Poll Shows Americans Becoming More Conservative, Pro-Life Views Responsible
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
July 7, 2009
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — A new Gallup survey finds that Americans, regardless of their political party affiliation, are calling themselves more conservative in general. The Gallup poll shows the 7 percent increase in the number of people referring to themselves as pro-life is responsible for the change.
A previous Gallup poll LifeNews.com reported on showed Americans moving from a 44 to 51 percent position saying they are pro-life on abortion.
Despite the results of the 2008 presidential election, Americans, by a 2-to-1 margin, say their political views in recent years have become more conservative rather than more liberal.
Some 39 percent of Americans say they are more conservative, 18 percent say they are more liberal, and 42 percent say their views have not changed.
These findings, from a June 14-17 Gallup Poll, find Republicans getting more conservative than liberal by a 47-9 percent margin, independents by a 37-19 percent margin, and Democrats by a 34-23 percent margin.
Thus far in 2009, 40% of Americans call themselves conservative, up from 37% in 2007 and 2008, and the highest level since 2004.
For the pro-life movement, the good news in the survey comes when comparing the views Americans hold now on several contentious political issues with where they stood in 2004.
On issues ranging from gun control and the environment to health care and the death penalty, Americans are more conservative.
The seven percent move towards the pro-life direction ties the seven percent move to a conservative view on the environment and health care.
But on other social issues, the change in the pro-life direction on abortion is more significant than the change to a conservative view on gay marriage, religion in general, and traditional values in general.
"Americans seem to be moving in a slightly more conservative direction on abortion this year, with a greater percentage calling themselves pro-life than pro-choice," Gallup said in a companion editorial accompanying the poll.
Gallup also says the poll results show that political ideology has little to do with why Barack Obama won the 2008 presidential election.
Given the results of the poll, it appears Obama was able to sell him self as a more moderate version of his liberal, pro-abortion ideological self.
The most recent Gallup results are based on telephone interviews with 1,011 national adults, aged 18 and older, conducted June 14-17, 2009.
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