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Gallup Poll: What it Means for Obama
By Jacqueline L. Salmon
The new Gallup poll released today showing a "significant" shift in Americans' positions on abortion could mean a lot to President Obama's upcoming program to reduce the number of abortions in the country. He is slated to roll out it out around the end of this month, aides have said. But how much support will it get from a populace that appears to be increasingly opposed to abortion?
The Gallup numbers found that the percent of U.S. adults who consider themselves "pro life" has increased sharply to 51 percent from 44 percent. The percentage who call themselves "pro choice" has dropped to 42 percent from 50 percent. Gallup notes that this is the first time a majority of adult Americans have identified themselves as pro-life since Gallup began asking the question in 1995.
A recent poll by the Pew Center for the People & the Press also found a decline in support for abortion (although mostly among men).
Neither poll suggests that the going will be easy for Obama.
Indeed, the fight over public support for the plan has already begun, mostly aimed at abortion moderates (generally, those who believe that abortion should be legal under certain circumstances).
A number of faith-based groups, academics and progressive think tanks are trying to appeal to abortion moderates by pushing for "common ground" approaches. They would be designed to make abortion more rare, such strengthening adoption and providing pregnant women with services like health care, and money for education to encourage them to continue their pregnancies.
But anti-abortion groups have responded with their own appeal. A conservative Catholic organization this week unveiled an ad, to be broadcast on next week's "American Idol" finale, aimed at Americans who are lukewarm in their support for abortion. The ad is a series of photos of photos of well-known people, such as Apple CEO Steve Jobs, ex-Beatles John Lennon and singer Sarah McLachlan, who had been adopted. The implication, of course, is that if they had been aborted, the world would have to do without these visionary people.
"Our goal is to reach the average American--your neighbor next door," Catholicvote.org told its supporters in a fundraising letter. "Radical pro-abortion advocates are not our target audience. And neither is the 'choir' who already agree with us."
Predictions that the "culture wars" are dying down, it's clear, aren't coming true. Especially when it comes abortion. The battle for the hearts and minds of abortion moderates is only heating up.
By
Jacqueline L. Salmon
|
May 15, 2009; 4:34 PM ET
| Category:
God in Government
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Posted by: RightOnTime | May 17, 2009 1:09 AM
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How very misleading to include John Lennon; he was "adopted" (I don't think officially) in his teens by his aunt after his mother was struck by a car.
-Ellen Fraser
Posted by: ellensfraser | May 16, 2009 8:24 PM
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Speaking as someone who's jumping through the hoops of adoption, it would be nice if conservative politicians would support policies to make the process a little easier...
Posted by: Robert_B1 | May 16, 2009 5:12 PM
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Something not clear is that "progressive think tanks are trying to appeal to abortion moderates" such as "such strengthening adoption" but then you say that "anti-abortion groups have responded...ad is a series of photos of photos of well-known people, such as Apple CEO Steve Jobs, ex-Beatles John Lennon and singer Sarah McLachlan, who had been adopted. The implication, of course, is that if they had been aborted, the world would have to do without these visionary people." But abortion is not what the conservatives are fighting against adoption because that is part of the bill, to support adoption. I believe the only reason why conservative are against this bill is because a liberal thought it up.
Posted by: Nosmanic | May 16, 2009 1:33 AM
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It is important not to overinterpret the recent poll results. Whether a true shift has occurred in attitudes toward abortion is uncertain and is further confounded by issues of sampling error, particularly since other recent polls have yielded different results. However, even assuming the poll accurately reflects public tendencies toward self-labeling ("life" vs "choice"), it's not clear that it reflects a fundamental shift in opinions about policy. The poll shows that a majority (53%) believe abortion should be legal in some but not all circumstances, and this figure has been remarkably constant over the past 35 years. Similarly, there has been little change in the extremes - 23% believing it should be legal always, and 22% never. In essence, most who label themselves "pro-life" support the availability of abortion in some circumstances, and the same is true for those who label themselves "pro-choice". At this point, it is reasonable to conclude that the majority of Americans hold a moderate position on abortion and reject the extremes, and that this moderate stance has little prospect of changing dramatically in the future.
Fred Moolten
Posted by: fmoolten | May 15, 2009 8:07 PM
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Not everyone who is opposed to abortion believes in God. Many simply reject the taking of a life for the sake of convenience, or for any other reason.