Issue Watch
Track global public opinion on current issues.
- 2008: Race for the White House
- 2008: The U.S. Electoral College
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- U.S. Election 2008: The Primaries
- Vladimir Putin
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Angus Reid Global Monitor : Polls & Research
Most Americans Would Keep Abortion Legal
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Many adults in the United States express support for allowing pregnancy termination, according to a poll by the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. 57 per cent of respondents think abortion should be legal in all or most cases, while 37 per cent believe the procedure should be illegal some or all of the time.
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."
On Aug. 17, actor and former Tennessee senator Fred Thompson, who is expected to join the race for the Republican Party's presidential nomination in 2008, referred to the 1973 Supreme Court ruling as "bad law and bad medicine." 62 per cent of respondents agree with the Roe v. Wade decision, while 32 per cent disagree.
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 | May 2007 | Dec. 2005 | |
Legal all cases | 21% | 17% | 19% |
Legal most cases | 36% | 37% | 38% |
Illegal most cases | 24% | 26% | 25% |
Illegal all cases | 13% | 13% | 14% |
Not sure | 6% | 7% | 4% |
In general, do you agree or disagree with the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that established a woman's right to an abortion?
Aug. 2007 | Dec. 2005 | Jul. 2005 | |
Agree | 62% | 63% | 65% |
Disagree | 32% | 32% | 30% |
Not sure | 6% | 5% | 6% |
Source: Quinnipiac University Polling Institute
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,545 registered American voters, conducted from Aug. 7 to Aug. 13, 2007. Margin of error is 2.5 per cent.