| No religion | Jewish | Catholic | Protestant | Mormon | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| % | % | % | % | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Abortion | 73 | 76 | 38 | 33 | 18 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Doctor-assisted suicide | 77 | 73 | 47 | 43 | 30 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cloning animals | 50 | 50 | 33 | 28 | 33 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gay-lesbian relations | 83 | 85 | 62 | 41 | 28 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Having a baby outside of marriage | 80 | 68 | 59 | 47 | 25 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Note: Gay-lesbian relations based on 2005-2016 data | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2001-2016 Gallup Values and Beliefs polls | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Many protestant denominations openly support and accept abortion—at least the leadership and organization. United Methodists, United Church of Christ, PCUSA and the Episcopal Church.
Which are typically closest to Catholics, while evangelicals are yet far more conservative.
40% Roman Catholics vs. 41% Non-R.C. see abortion as "morally acceptable"; Sex between unmarried couples: 67% vs. 57%; Baby out of wedlock: 61% vs. 52%; Homosexual relations: 54% vs. 45%; Gambling: 72% vs. 59% http://www.gallup.com/poll/117154/Catholics-Similar-Mainstream-Abortion-Stem-Cells.aspx
Committed Roman Catholics (church attendance weekly or almost) versus Non-R.C. faithful church goers (see the below as as morally acceptable): Abortion: 24% of R.C. vs. 19% Non-R.C.; Sex between unmarried couples: 53% vs. 30%; Baby out of wedlock: 48% vs. 29%; Homosexual relations: 44% vs. 21%; Gambling: 67% vs. 40%; Divorce: 63 vs. 46% ^
[2000-2001] Catholic women had an abortion rate 29 percent higher than Protestants. 43% of women over age 17 in the 2000-2001 survey said they were Protestant, while 27 percent said they were Catholic. 13 percent said they were evangelical or “born-again.” Catholics were more likely to get an abortion: The abortion rate for Catholic women was 22 per 1,000 women; the rate for Protestants was 18 per 1,000 women, Alan Guttmacher Institute http://www.catholicleague.org/research/Catholic_women_and_abortion.htm; http://www.factcheck.org/2007/12/abortions-comparing-catholic-and-protestant-women/
75% of white evangelical Protestants consider having an abortion morally wrong, as do 64% of Hispanic Catholics, 58% of black Protestants, 53% of white Catholics, 38% of white mainline Protestants and 25% of religiously unaffiliated adults. http://www.pewforum.org/2013/08/15/abortion-viewed-in-moral-terms/
White evangelical Protestants are the only major religious group in which a majority (54%) favors completely overturning Roe v. Wade. http://www.pewforum.org/2013/01/16/roe-v-wade-at-40/
35% of white evangelicals and 52% of 59% of white Catholics see overturning Roe v. Wade as not that important. http://www.pewforum.org/2013/01/16/roe-v-wade-at-40/
64% of white evangelical Protestants [blacks make up 6% of all evangelicals] believe abortion should be illegal in all or most cases, as do 52% of Hispanic Catholics, and 41% of white Catholics, and 39% of black Protestants, and 31% of white mainline Protestants. http://www.pewforum.org/2013/01/16/public-opinion-on-abortion-slideshow/
31% of faithful Catholics (those who attend church weekly, 2004) say abortion should be legal either in "many" or in "all" cases.. 2004, The Gallup Organization Gallup Survey for Catholics Speak Out: 802 Catholics, May 1992, MOE ± 4%;
When ask to choose, three-fourths of all Protestant pastors surveyed said [2009] they are pro-life, and 13 percent said they were pro-choice. LifeWay Research; http://www.lifeway.com/ArticleView?storeId=10054&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&article=LifeWay-Research-protestant-pastors-share-views-on-gay-marriage-abortion
26 percent of Catholics (2007) polled strongly agree with the Church's unequivocal position on abortion Catholic World Report; survey of 1,000 Catholic Americans by Roper Center for Public Opinion Research at the University of Connecticut; http://www.adoremus.org/397-Roper.html
46 percent of Catholics who say they attend mass weekly accept Church teaching on abortion; 43 percent accept the all-male priesthood; and 30 percent see contraception as morally wrong. ^
In 1992 0nly 13 percent of Catholics overall agreed that abortion could never be a moral choice. 41% said it was morally acceptable in rare circumstances and another 41 percent said it was morally acceptable in many or all circumstances. 70% of Catholics overall agreed that Catholics can vote in good conscience for political candidates who support legal abortion. http://www.nytimes.com/1992/06/19/us/bishops-meet-catholics-voice-differences-with-church-s-doctrine-poll-finds.html More.
What we deem as “morally acceptable” doesn’t mean much. The scriptures shows that we are not moral creatures. When everyone does “what is right in his own eyes”, time and time again we prove that we will choose the most reprehensible moral acts. And this is just about where we are at today-doing what right in each of our eyes. Hence the survey.
So it isn’t a question of what is morally acceptable. It is a question of what is right and wrong (or good verses evil). Thus if someone were to ask the questions as:
Do you think abortion is good or evil?
Do you think doctor-assisted suicide is good or evil?
Do you think cloning animals is good or evil?
Do you think gay-lesbian relations are good or evil?
Do you think having a baby outside of marriage is good or evil?
One might get a completely different answer.
Few people think in terms of good and evil any longer. The questions become a matter of right and wrong but what exactly is the yardstick? If one were to use the scriptures, the questions become more black-and-white rather than shades of grey. But the real question is what is the yardstick?