Poll: Majority Say Abortion Morally Wrong Most of the Time

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Apr 11, 2013   |   4:35PM   |   Washington, DC

A new poll of voters shows a majority of Americans believe abortion is morally wrong most of the time.

The survey from Rasmussen Reports included 1,000 Likely Voters and was conducted April 9-10. It showed 51% of all voters consider abortion to be morally wrong most of the time. That’s up from an all-time low of 44% in January but more consistent with findings in surveys since March 2006. Just thirty-four percent (34%) view abortion as morally acceptable in most instances. Fifteen percent (15%) are not sure.

Twenty-three percent (23%) now believe it is too hard to get an abortion in the United States. That’s up five points from January’s previous high of 18%. Thirty-nine percent (39%) think it’s too easy to get an abortion, while 25% feel the level of difficulty is about right. These findings are in line with surveys for the past several years. Fourteen percent (14%) are undecided.

Forty-five percent (45%) think there should be a mandatory waiting period before a woman is allowed to get an abortion, down slightly from earlier surveys, but nearly as many (42%) disagree. This is the narrowest gap between the two sides to date.  Thirteen percent (13%) are not sure.

The Rasmussen survey also found more voters consider themselves “pro-choice” than pro-life but that should come with a big asterisk because it doesn’t most accurately represent the views of Americans on abortion.

The Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 53% of Likely U.S. Voters consider themselves pro-choice when it comes to the issue of abortion, just below the record high of 54% reached in November. Forty percent (40%) say they are pro-life, up from January’s low of 36%.

That figure doesn’t mean much, as another recent national poll on abortion reveals.

The National Right to Life Committee commissioned a nationwide survey from the Polling Company, a firm that conducted a survey February 28-March 3 with 1,000 respondents and a 3.1% margin of error. The poll found 47 percent of Americans identify themselves as pro-life while 49 percent say they “pro-choice” on abortions.

But when getting away from the labels and seeing whether people actually stood on the issue of abortion, the poll found 53 percent of Americans take one of three positions opposing abortion except in very rare cases that amount to no more than one percent of all abortions. On the other hand, just 42 percent take one of three pro-abortion positions and only 12 percent agree with President Barack Obama and Planned Parenthood for abortions at any point in pregnancy.

More from the Rasmussen survey on various abortion issues:

Sixty percent (60%) of voters view abortion as at least somewhat important to how they will vote, while 38% consider it unimportant. This includes 37% who say it is Very Important to their vote and 13% for whom it is Not At All Important. This marks little change from earlier surveys.

Most Republicans (62%) consider themselves pro-life, while most Democrats (69%) and unaffiliated voters (54%) say they are pro-choice. Sixty-five percent (65%) of GOP voters think it is too easy to get an abortion in America, but just 20% of Democrats and 34% of unaffiliateds agree.

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Women are more likely than men to be pro-choice and are less likely to consider abortion morally wrong in most cases. Forty-three percent (43%) of female voters say abortion is Very Important in terms of how they will vote, compared to 30% of male voters.

Voters with children in the home are more likely to be pro-life and to consider abortion morally wrong most of the time, compared to those without children living with them.

The younger the voter, the more likely they are to be pro-choice.

Seventy-nine percent (79%) of pro-life voters think it’s too easy to get an abortion in the U.S., a view shared by just 11% of pro-choice voters. Thirty-nine percent (39%) of those who are pro-choice feel it is too hard to get an abortion.

Seventy-six percent (76%) of pro-life voters favor a mandatory waiting period; 66% of pro-choice voters oppose one.