A new Washington Post poll shows Americans support a late-term abortion ban prohibiting abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy by a margin of 56 to 27 percent. Just 27 percent of those poll
ed by the newspaper say they oppose banning late-term abortions — a position taken by President Barack Obama and Planned Parenthood.
The number of people who support banning late-term abortions is actually higher if those who want all abortions banned are included in the figures. As the Post reports:
Another 10 percent surveyed in the poll volunteered they would prefer to outlaw abortion in the United States altogether or limit it earlier than 20 weeks after fertilization.
Such measures have cheered abortion opponents such as Nita Wallace, who lives in the Fort Worth area and has her own business. Wallace, who said she opposes the procedure because “God is the maker of life,” said religious Americans such as herself made a mistake in the past because “they didn’t get involved in politics so much, and now they’re realizing they lost ground by doing that.”
“What’s ground zero for making decisions? It used to be the Ten Commandments,” Wallace said, adding media accounts have mislead the public into thinking abortion enjoys broad support. “I believe a lot of the American public, especially women, they have this idea that the majority of people embrace abortion.”
The poll was conducted July 18 to 21 among a random national sample of 1,002 adults. Results from the full poll have an error margin of 3.5 percentage points.
The Washington Post poll results mirror the results of a Huffington Post poll this month.
The new poll conducted for the liberal Huffington Post find Americans support the ban on late-term abortions starting at 20-weeks of pregnancy by almost a 2-1 margin.
“By a margin of 59 percent to 30 percent, respondents to the new poll said they would favor a federal law banning abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy,” HuffPo reported about its poll.
A recent national poll by The Polling Company found that, after being informed that there is scientific evidence that unborn children are capable of feeling pain at least by 20 weeks, 64% would support a law banning abortion after 20 weeks, unless the mother’s life was in danger. Only 30% said they would oppose such a law.
A National Journal poll also found more Americans supporting the 20-week abortion ban than opposing it.
