ABORTION ACCESS:

U.S. public opinion polls: Year 2001

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Average ABC News poll data: 1995 to 2001:

ABC News conducts an annual poll asking American adults whether they support or oppose access by women to legal abortion. They report that:

ABC News - Washington Post poll: 2001-JAN:

A BBC News report for 2001-JAN-23 summarized what it called a "new" ABC News - Washington Post poll of American adults which "suggests that most Americans are broadly supportive of current abortion laws."

ABC News poll of 2001-JUN:

The poll was conducted between JUN-20 and JUN-24. It has a margin of error of 3 percentage points. ₁

As with all previous polls, this one shows a split among the American public:

The main factor that determines their belief:

Among those who oppose abortion access, 50% base their belief mainly on religious influences.

Variation with religious belief:

As noted above, there is a major gulf between Evangelical and mainline/liberal Protestants. In spite of their church's strong stance against abortion, Catholics seem to be indistinguishable from the rest of the population.

Political ideology:

As expected, self-identified liberals are far more supportive of abortion access than are conservatives:

Party affiliation:

As expected, Democrats and Independents are far more supportive of abortion access than are Republicans:

Additional differences were found. Older persons, people with less education, persons with lower income and African-Americans were more inclined to criminalize most or all abortions.

There's a range of opinion within the categories of support or opposition for legal abortion. About a fifth of Americans take each of the more extreme views — that abortion should be legal in all cases, or illegal in all cases. Just under a quarter say it should be illegal in most cases, but not all. And 31 percent say it should be legal in most cases. Evangelical white Protestants are among the groups most likely to say abortion should be illegal in all cases; 35 percent of them take that view. Again, though, this means that even among evangelicals, nearly two-thirds reject a complete ban on all abortions. About half as many Catholics, 19 percent, support making abortion illegal in all cases, as do 11 percent of non-evangelical white Protestants.

Barna Research Group poll of 2001:

Barna Research is an Evangelical Christian polling group. They interviewed 1003 American adults during 2001-MAY, producing a poll with a margin of error of 3%. Results were:

2001-OCT: Center for Gender Equality poll:

The Princeton Survey Research Associates conducted this poll. They found that "Women's opinions on the issue of abortion itself are sharply divided, and entrenched:" ₄

Support for abortion on request varies significantly with educational level. Only 22% of women who did not complete high school favored freely available abortions, whereas 49% of college graduates favored this option.

Of those who want abortion access restricted in some way:

1. Gary Langer, "Support for Legal Abortion Wobbles: Religion Informs Much Opposition," ABC News, at: http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/poll010702.html
2. "EU condemns Bush abortion move," BBC News, 2001-JAN-23, at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1132127.stm
3. "Born-again Christian oppose abortion, homosexuality, poll shows," Associated Baptist Press, at: http://www.abpnews.com/abpnews/
4. "Progress and Perils: How gender issues unite and divide women, Part One," Center for Gender Equality, at: http://www.advancewomen.org/ You may need software to read these files. It can be obtained free from:

Copyright © 2001 to 2006 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Latest update: 2006-NOV-15
Author: B.A. Robinson