(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Almost half of adults in the United States consent to pregnancy termination in specific cases, according to a poll by Angus Reid Public Opinion. 46 per cent of respondents think abortion should be legal only under certain circumstances.
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Almost half of adults in the United States consent to pregnancy termination in specific cases, according to a poll by Angus Reid Public Opinion. 46 per cent of respondents think abortion should be legal only under certain circumstances.
In addition, 30 per cent of respondents want abortion to be legal under any circumstances, while 15 per cent believe the practice should always be illegal.
The 1973 Supreme Court Roe v. Wade ruling gave American women the right to an abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy, and regulated the procedure during the second trimester "in ways that are reasonably related to maternal health." In the third trimester, a state can choose to proscribe abortion, except when necessary "for the preservation of the life or health of the mother."
Earlier this month, Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg discussed her views on the Roe v. Wade case, saying, "Over a generation of young women have grown up, understanding they can control their own reproductive capacity, and in fact their life’s destiny. We will never go back to the way it once was."
Polling Data
Do you think abortion should be legal under any circumstances, legal only under certain circumstances, or illegal in all circumstances?
|
Jul. 2010
|
Jan. 2010
|
|
|
Legal under any circumstances
|
30%
|
27%
|
|
Legal only under certain circumstances
|
46%
|
49%
|
|
Illegal in all circumstances
|
15%
|
14%
|
|
Not sure
|
9%
|
10%
|
Source: Angus Reid Public Opinion
Methodology: Online interviews with 1,002 American adults, conducted on Jul. 8 and Jul. 9, 2010. Margin of error is 3.1 per cent.
