Posted on 01/25/2006 9:37:14 AM PST by summer
As the nation marks the 33rd anniversary of the landmark 1973 U.S. Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade that established abortion rights across America, a slight majority believes abortion should be always be available, or should be available without government financing, a new Zogby Interactive poll shows.
The survey shows that 52% favor abortion, including 10% who saying they believe it should be available, but that the government should not pay for it.
Forty-three percent oppose abortion, though most of those believe there should be exceptions in the cases of rape, incest, or when the pregnancy posed a grave threat to the life of the mother. A total of 9% said they “always oppose” abortion.
Among women, 50% said they favored the availability of abortion in all cases, while another 8% said they favor its availability but do not want the government to pay for it. Thirty-eight percent of women said they opposed abortion outright, or with certain exceptions. Among men, 59% said they oppose abortion completely or with certain exceptions, while 35% said they favor it always. Another 12% said they favor it but do not want the government to pay for it.
“What’s striking to me is that the numbers were radically different ten years ago,” said John Zogby, President and CEO of Zogby International. “Ten years ago, maybe just seven or eight years ago, pro-choice forces were in the ascendancy and posted pro-choice numbers in the area of 65% to 68%.”
They still represent a majority, but just barely, the survey shows.
The Zogby survey highlights a dramatic partisan split on the question. While 74% of Democrats said they favor abortion the availability of in all circumstances, just 9% of Republicans feel the same way. And while 78% of Republicans oppose abortion either completely or with some exceptions, only 17% of Democrats agree.
Among independents, 45% said they always favor the right to an abortion.
Among Republicans, 77% said that “abortion destroys a human life and is manslaughter,” while 13% disagreed with that statement. Among Democrats, 15% believe that abortion destroys a human life and is manslaughter, and 70% disagreed.
The poll comes as the U.S. Senate is preparing to vote soon on the nomination of Judge Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court. Judge Alito, nominated last year by President Bush to take the seat now occupied by moderate Sandra Day O’Connor, is considered a conservative that could change the balance on the court on this issue and others.
The partisan divide over abortion is most dramatic when considering whether parents should be notified before a daughter’s abortion. While 88% of Republicans agree parents should know ahead of time, just 26% of Democrats agree. One in every two independents say parents should be told ahead of time.
The national split extends to the question about late-term abortion. One-third opposes late-term abortions except when the mother’s life is in danger; one-third opposes the procedure except when the overall health of the mother is at risk, and 20% said they opposed late-term abortions in all circumstances. Another 11% said they did not agree with any of those circumstances.
The Zogby Interactive survey was conducted Jan. 20-23, and included 5,640 interviews. The margin of error for the poll is +/-1.3 percentage points.
(1/23/2006)
The RATS keep killing off their future voters.
Yes, isn't it ironic? I've read a couple of articles asserting that the liberals would have won in 2000 and possibly in 2004 if they hadn't killed off millions of babies who would have grown up to vote Democrat.
I've always been fairly apathetic on the issue.. I think abortion is wrong of course, and that Roe was based on terribly tortured reasoning... I just can't wait until it's no longer the defining issue in American politics.
I don't know if it will ever be out of the debate in this country, since there will always be people on either side. Though I must say, it seems pretty clear which side is winning this debate.
Don't forget, this is Zogby. I'll bet the percentage of those who favor abortion is really lower.
It doesn't help the pro-abortion forces that pregnant women can now get a full-color, high-definition movie of their ultrasound. When you see something like that, there's no doubt about what you're seeing.
That's very true; technology has had an important impact on this subject.
Polling results are open to interpretation. I interpret this polling data as good news. After 33 years and 46 million abortions, any good news on the pro-life front is welcome.
Agreed.
Zogby is tainted with the same vile left-wing bias as any CNN-Gallup poll.
Change the wording and you will get even higher numbers. Instead of asking if "they favored the availability of abortion in all cases", ask, "Do you think that abortion should be used as birth control?" and "Do you think that it should be legal to abort full term babies?" and, "Should a 12 year old girl be allowed to get an abortion without her parent's or guardian's permission?" and your numbers will drop down around 20% (which coincidentially is the number of people who also describe themselves as "liberal").
Yesterday, 4,000 babies were aborted in the USA. Zogby used a sonogram and asked the babies how many of them wanted the abortion to be performed. The results stunned zogby. 100% of the pre-aborted babies did NOT approve of the murder that was about to occur. Zogby said that there was a problem with the sample and it was not representative of the general population. He promised not to skew his sample in future polls.
The huge influx of Hispanic people over that time might play a factor in this poll.
Remember this, the next time someone says there's no real difference between the 2 parties.
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