September 10, 2007

Abstract: (Angus Reid Global Monitor) - More adults in the United States believe pregnancy termination should be allowed at least in some occasions, according to a poll by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. 52 per cent of respondents think abortion should be legal in all or most cases, up seven points since February.

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - More adults in the United States believe pregnancy termination should be allowed at least in some occasions, according to a poll by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. 52 per cent of respondents think abortion should be legal in all or most cases, up seven points since February.

Conversely, 43 per cent of respondents think the procedure should be illegal in all or most cases, down seven points in six months.

A Supreme Court ruling in 1973 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."

In April, a Supreme Court ruling effectively banned partial birth abortion—a procedure performed in the late-term of pregnancy when the fetus can survive outside the womb—without making an exception for the health of the mother. 75 per cent of respondents believe partial birth abortion should be illegal.

On Sept. 7, Pope Benedict XVI voiced opposition to pregnancy termination during a visit to Austria, saying, "Life is a fundamental human right. Abortion, consequently cannot be a human right—it is the very opposite." The Pope also referred to the social problems that sometimes lead to an abortion, saying, "I do not close my eyes to the difficulties and the conflicts which many women are experiencing, and I realize that the credibility of what we say depends on what the Church herself is doing to help women in trouble."

Polling Data

Do you think abortion should be legal in all cases, legal in most cases, illegal in most cases, or illegal in all cases?

	Aug. 2007	Feb. 2007
Legal in all cases	17%	15%
Legal in most cases	35%	30%
Illegal in most cases	26%	30%
Illegal in all cases	17%	20%
Unsure	5%	5%

Now I would like to ask your opinion about a specific abortion procedure known as ‘late-term’ abortion or ‘partial birth’ abortion, which is sometimes performed on women during the last few months of pregnancy. Do you think that this procedure should be legal or illegal?

Legal	17%
Illegal	75%
Unsure	8%

Source: Pew Research Center for the People and the Press

Methodology: Telephone interviews to 3,002 American adults, conducted from Aug. 1 to Aug. 18, 2007. Margin of error is 2 per cent.