More Than 70 Percent Want Abortion Limits, Poll Finds.
Issue: May 22, 1999
Nearly three-quarters of Americans think access to abortion should be limited in some circumstances, according to a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll made public on May 5. The poll found that 16 percent of Americans think abortions should be illegal in all circumstances, and 55 percent said it should be allowed only in cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother. Another 27 percent said abortions should be permitted in all circumstances.
The poll also showed that the number of Americans who describe themselves as "pro-choice" is dropping, while the number who call themselves "pro-life" is rising. The number who said they were pro- choice fell to 48 percent. Three years ago the number was 56 percent. The number who considered themselves pro-life went from 36 percent three years ago to 42 percent. The poll found that the number of Americans who said they favor making partial-birth abortions illegal rose from 55 percent to 61 percent over the past two years. Those who wanted to keep partial-birth abortions legal dropped from 40 percent to 34 percent.
In another development, the Alan Guttmacher Institute reported that the teen abortion rate had declined from 45.7 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15 to 19 in 1986 to 34.9 in 1996. Figures from the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention explain the decline, according to Helen Alvare, director of planning and information for the U.S. bishops' Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities. She notes that "from 1990 to 1997 there was a 21 percent decline in high school teen-age boys who reported having sex in the previous three months, and a 20 percent decline in those reporting that they ever had sex." A spokeswoman for the Guttmacher Institute attributed 20 percent of the decrease to decreased sexual activity among teens and 80 percent to more effective use of contraceptives.
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In an October 2000 Gallup poll, 77% of Americans supported a ban on partial-birth abortion. In other Gallup polls, this number has approached 89%. A 1998 poll conducted by the New York Times and CBS News found that 78% of Americans support making it illegal for a minor to obtain an abortion without parental consent. A Gallup poll finds the proportion even higher, at 88%.
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