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NBC/WSJ poll: For first time, majority thinks abortion should be legal in all or most cases
Hotair ^ | 01/22/2013 | AllahPundit

Posted on 01/22/2013 8:23:39 AM PST by SeekAndFind

If you're hung over from drinking the blues away on Inauguration Day, bad news: It's time to open another beer. New numbers on the 40th anniversary of Roe:

According to the poll, 54 percent of adults say that abortion should be legal either always or most of the time, while a combined 44 percent said it should be illegal – either with or without exceptions...

In addition, a whopping 70 percent of Americans oppose the Roe v. Wade decision from being overturned, including 57 percent who feel strongly about this...

By comparison, just 24 percent now want the Roe v. Wade decision overturned, including 21 percent who feel strongly about this position.

Much of this change, the NBC/WSJ pollsters say, is coming from African Americans, Latinos and women without college degrees --- all of whom increasingly oppose the Supreme Court decision from being overturned.

Before today the highest number NBC/WSJ had recorded for keeping abortion legal in all or most cases was 49 percent in 2008. When you drill down into that data, you find that the number who want abortion legal in all cases — no exceptions, presumably not even for late term — is 31 percent, which is also a new high. Say this for Obama’s new coalition — they elected the right guy.

As for overturning Roe, despite the sturm and drang of Supreme Court confirmation hearings, Americans have never been keen on doing so. Pew’s recent poll on abortion found 63 percent opposed to the idea; in 1992, the number was 60 percent. NBC/WSJ sees a bit more movement over time but support for the status quo has been constant through the years in their data too:

Why the recent uptick? NBC’s pollsters speculate it's partly a backlash to the Akin/Mourdock rape comments last year, but I don’t know. My sense is that backlashes like that tend to burn out fairly quickly. Obama won and Akin and Mourdock both lost, so the “threat” of a post-Roe world has passed for abortion supporters. I think the likelier explanation, as noted in the excerpt, is changing demographics. Pew published a set of polls a few weeks after the election showing that the 18-to-29 group that got Obama reelected was also the age demographic most supportive of keeping abortion legal in all or most cases. They were also far more likely — 14 points more likely — than any other age group to say that government should do more than that government is doing too much. Imagine their surprise when they find out America can’t pay for the government it has right now.

Now that you’ve digested those numbers, try to digest this one. Exit question: Do these numbers augur the eventual end of SCOTUS confirmation fights over Roe? A newly elected Republican president would be caught between social conservatives in his base, who want the decision overturned, and pretty much the entire rest of the electorate, which doesn’t. Makes me wonder if GOP candidates won’t start veering away from the idea of getting rid of Roe via new appointments and pushing the idea of a Human Life Amendment instead. They could sell it is a true democratic solution, the way the Founders intended, knowing all the while that it hasn’t a prayer of passing.

Update: Almost forgot: If you believe Pew, a majority of the 18-to-29 group that’s now steering the ship of state and that strongly opposes overturning Roe doesn’t know which issue Roe v. Wade actually dealt with.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Front Page News; Philosophy
KEYWORDS: 2013polls; abortion; anniversary; msmlies; proaborts; prolife
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To: Mouton
Actually it is time for a new country.

Sadly, yes.

61 posted on 01/22/2013 10:06:12 AM PST by madprof98
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To: LucianOfSamasota

“How exactly will society function when half the population was raised in this manner; without work ethic, dependent on government handouts, and without a father for moral guidance? Will the other half work twice as hard to support these crime prone vagabonds through redistributive taxation? And why should we be surprised when these morally bankrupt government dependents vote for the welfare king, Barack I?
God help our children, because the United States as we know it has ceased to exist.”

The simple answer is that, after a while, it won’t function any longer.

The United States hasn’t “ceased to exist” quite yet, and it still has a way to go before that can happen. But it’s entirely feasible that within the lifetimes of the younger folks reading this, it -will- cease to “exist”, at least in its present form of borders, and quite possibly, government.

This is why the continuing “divide” between the red states and the blue states is becoming more important. As the blue states become more dysfunctional, the red states seem to be “holding on” somewhat to the more traditional “old ways”. We are even seeing the beginnings of a mass-migration of the “producing citizens” from the blue “entitlee states” into the red “producer states”. The result is the reds will get redder as the blues get bluer.

If at some point the entire national government teeters on the verge of collapse (at least financial collapse), the red states may find themselves in a position to literally “break away” from the sinking blues.

But I don’t think that can happen until the DC government is broke — and by “broke” I mean that Social Security recipients stop receiving their deposits at the beginning of the month, the EBT cards run out and are no longer replenished, and the doctors and hospitals stop receiving Medicare/Medicaid payments from the government. Perhaps when the members of the U.S. military find they are no longer being paid, as well.

If it comes down to that, will they be willing to fight and die to preserve a “union” that no longer seems willing or even able to pay them?


62 posted on 01/22/2013 10:08:41 AM PST by Road Glide
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To: Mouton

“Just trying to find a lead actor who could pull off that role would be a chore”

Jim Caviezel?


63 posted on 01/22/2013 10:09:10 AM PST by rmichaelj
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To: Longbow1969

She/He is exactly right. As much as the GOP has willingly been steered to the Left, the GOP should leave it alone.

The new 3rd party that rises from the ashes, on the other hand....


64 posted on 01/22/2013 10:12:38 AM PST by i_robot73
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To: SampleMan

They need to poll outside of their news rooms.

The lefts goal is to split the Republican party and destroy it. Be careful what you read. The media has agreed, if you read the latest headlines, to help them do it.

Believe nothing you hear from the left wing media. They're attempting to alienate conservatives from the Republican party.

ALINSKI - Pick the target (conservatives), freeze it, personalize it, polarize it.

Nothing you'll be reading from the left wing media will be based on reality. They're on a mission.



65 posted on 01/22/2013 10:12:53 AM PST by concerned about politics ("Get thee behind me, Liberal")
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To: SeekAndFind
"Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that his justice cannot sleep forever"

Thomas Jefferson

66 posted on 01/22/2013 10:13:22 AM PST by Dogbert41
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To: varmintman

I hear you what you’re saying. I was just throwing it out there to consider. You can’t just walk away from social issues a little bit. It’s kind of all or nothing. Whatever ground you retreat from the left is going take and push the envelope even further. Is there any boundaries we should fight on when it comes to things like abortion and social issues? And if so, aren’t we right back where we started - being the “out of touch” party fighting for conservative social positions. It’s not that easy to walk away from issues like abortion and others when you consider the other side is just going to keep pushing till you’ve reached a new place that seems unimaginable.


67 posted on 01/22/2013 10:13:50 AM PST by Longbow1969
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To: SeekAndFind

This country isn’t worth patriotism anymore. What am I supposed to be proud of?

Work ethic? It’s non-existent in my generation.

Faith? Again, it’s dying in this country.

Rampant abortion? Rampant illegitimacy? Rampant welfare? Rampant ignorance? Asset forfeiture? Needless wars? Our movies? Our tv shows?

All of our best is in the past.

But as a Christian, I believe this is how I *should* feel, a stranger in a strange land. My country is God’s kingdom. It’s time for the flag-waving, military-loving conservatives here to ask if they have the right priorities.


68 posted on 01/22/2013 10:19:20 AM PST by LifeComesFirst (http://rw-rebirth.blogspot.com/)
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To: Mr. Lucky

Exactly. As a long-time pro-lifer, those peons and their bizarro comments bear no resemblance to the (mostly female) antiabortion activists I’m familiar with. They are stereotypical good old boy politicians who should have been retired years ago.

Most urban, modern liberal types have limited contact with the pro-life movement and people like that simply play into the totally bogus stereotype of pro-lifers being old white men who have a tin ear for women’s concerns.


69 posted on 01/22/2013 10:25:50 AM PST by LifeComesFirst (http://rw-rebirth.blogspot.com/)
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To: Mr. Lucky

Exactly. As a long-time pro-lifer, those peons and their bizarro comments bear no resemblance to the (mostly female) antiabortion activists I’m familiar with. They are stereotypical good old boy politicians who should have been retired years ago.

Most urban, modern liberal types have limited contact with the pro-life movement and people like that simply play into the totally bogus stereotype of pro-lifers being old white men who have a tin ear for women’s concerns.


70 posted on 01/22/2013 10:25:55 AM PST by LifeComesFirst (http://rw-rebirth.blogspot.com/)
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To: Lakeshark

I’m so sick of these godless people.
Happily aborting their own.


71 posted on 01/22/2013 10:32:23 AM PST by onyx (FREE REPUBLIC IS HERE TO STAY! DONATE MONTHLY! IF YOU WANT ON SARAH PALIN''S PING LIST, LET ME KNOW)
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To: SeekAndFind

It’s amazing how many people are falling for this blatant propaganda. Abortion opinions move at glacial speed, meaning the numbers don’t make giant leaps in a period of 30 days. Furthermore, the neo-Nazi propaganda tool, Pew, which has been caught numerous times lying its ass off, is involved.

Enjoy your French surrender parade.


72 posted on 01/22/2013 10:33:19 AM PST by sergeantdave (The FBI has declared war on the Marine Corps)
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To: LifeComesFirst

It is when we all play safe that we create a world of utmost insecurity. It is when we all play safe that fatality will lead us to our doom. It is with the "dark shade of courage" alone that will allow the spell to be broken.



73 posted on 01/22/2013 10:34:00 AM PST by concerned about politics ("Get thee behind me, Liberal")
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To: Road Glide
Really good post, food for thought.

We are even seeing the beginnings of a mass-migration of the “producing citizens” from the blue “entitlee states” into the red “producer states”. The result is the reds will get redder as the blues get bluer.

This is actually a key point. There are some incidences of it, but I'm not sure it is happening on large scale yet - nor is it all to the benefit of the red states. I am in Virginia and we watch our influx of immigrants and transients from other states simply vote the way they did back home. They are like locusts, they don't connect their voting habits to the basketcase status their home states have. Also remember a lot of red states are being overrun by Hispanic demographics which are a solid Democrat voting block.

Still, this is vitally important. Red states need to become redder in order to go in exactly the opposite direction as the blues. That means red states need to advertise in blue states on issues that are very likely to encourage conservative migration to said red state. A good example is 2nd amendment preservation. You run ads in New York encouraging gun owners to move to Texas, and your almost certainly importing Republicans to the Lone Star State.

The more we can push this divide, the more pressure is on blue states to compete. And they can't, and they probably know it. That will mean the left will attempt to use the Federal Govt to level the playing field by imposing the high taxation and onerous rules on all states equally (something they already know is important to their movement). This might provoke a fight sooner rather than later between red states and the Federal Government, perhaps before everything has gone to hell and there is nothing left to save.

74 posted on 01/22/2013 10:34:11 AM PST by Longbow1969
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To: LibsRJerks
How can people look at this ...and then abort?

Many can't, which is why the pro-death (that's really what they are) crowd is screaming to high heaven over any ultrasound laws passed by legislatures, as they did in my state of Texas.

75 posted on 01/22/2013 10:36:11 AM PST by fwdude ( You cannot compromise with that which you must defeat.)
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To: All

I believe last year was the first year since Roe, that a majority, 51% were against abortion.

So, what’s the big mover this year?

Probably a movie on the Oprah Network.

That’s what we’re dealing with people. Americans who are brain dead and lack moral values.

We all know what the Founders stated clearly regarding our Republic and a moral and informed public.


76 posted on 01/22/2013 10:41:03 AM PST by rbmillerjr (We have No Opposition to Obama's Socialist Agenda)
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To: SeekAndFind
This is 100% contrary to everything I see in dealing with ordinary people. When debating in a neutral forum on Facebook--and even in some places hostile to the pro-life side--the pro-abort side is hopelessly outnumbered, out-matched and out-classed. Support for the pro-life position comes from some truly unexpected places.

In short, I don't believe this BS poll even for a nano-second.
77 posted on 01/22/2013 10:45:32 AM PST by Antoninus (Sorry, gone rogue.)
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To: flowergirl

Amen...there’s another just out that says only 41% are
“pro-choice”....
Don’t believe the a**hole “media”...


78 posted on 01/22/2013 10:45:39 AM PST by matginzac
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To: Road Glide
The result is the reds will get redder as the blues get bluer.

The wheat is being separated from the chaff.

If a major natural disaster hits, or even an economic collapse, the people in the blue states will reap what they've sewn.
IF there ever is a pole shift as Einstein predicted, it is the blue states that will be lost to the ocean. It'll be the time of "The Great Cleansing."

People are being separated for a reason - a harvest. Up until now, the weeds and the wheat were allowed to grow up together, for fear the wheat would be harmed. When it's time for the "judgment", the two must be separated, so the wheat will be safe.

It's all coming together now, isn't it?.

79 posted on 01/22/2013 10:45:41 AM PST by concerned about politics ("Get thee behind me, Liberal")
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To: Monty22002

Yep. Is the party leadership taking steps to prevent a repeat of this fiasco in 2014, or are they sitting on their thumbs again?


80 posted on 01/22/2013 10:48:52 AM PST by frizzled
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