Poll Shows Americans Want Government to Promote Traditional, Pro-Life Values
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
September 30, 2009
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — A new Gallup poll shows Americans returning to their historic stance that the government should promote traditional values, which includes a pro-life stance on abortion. Since 1993, with the exception of last year, a strong majority of Americans have consistently taken such a stance.
In this year’s annual Gallup Governance poll, 53% of Americans say the government should promote traditional values, while 42% disagree.
Last year, Americans were divided with 48 percent taking each position, but the election of pro-abortion President Barack Obama appeared to have awaken Americans’ sensitivity to values issues like abortion.
The poll does not define what the term "traditional values" means; thus, respondents answer in light of their understanding of the term, but Gallup’s analysis confirms abortion has always been one of the issues voters consider as a values concern.
The 2008 results marked the high point in the percentage opposed to a government role in promoting traditional morality since Gallup’s initial measurement of this question in 1993. In most other years, an average of 55 percent said they wanted promotion of traditional values while 40 percent said no.
The shift in attitudes this year comes primarily from the political middle, Gallup explains.
"Independents’ views show a dramatic turnaround, from a 55%-37% split against government-promoted morality last year to a 54%-40% division in favor of it today. By contrast, Republicans’ and Democrats’ views have been relatively stable, with the former solidly in favor of the government’s promoting traditional morality, and a majority of the latter opposed," Gallup notes.
Republicans want traditional values promoted on a 67-31 percent margin while Democrats oppose it on a 54-42 percentage point margin.
"Americans’ attitudes reverted to a more conservative point of view on the matter. Now, Americans favor the government’s promoting traditional values by an 11-point margin, similar to the double-digit margins favoring that view through much of the prior two decades," Gallup concluded.
The polling company also talked about its surveys from earlier this year showing Americans moving in a pro-life direction on abortion.
"Gallup has found several instances this year in which Americans’ positions on policy issues — including moral issues such as abortion and stem cell research … have changed," it reports. "On most of these issues, the changes have been toward a more conservative point of view."
Results for this new poll are based on telephone interviews with 1,026 national adults, aged 18 and older, conducted Aug. 31-Sept. 2, 2009.
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