On the eve of President Obama’s visit to Notre Dame, two polls are released that show that views on abortion among Americans is in motion, but more complex than headlines may indicate
A Gallup survey is headlined that more Americans are “pro-life” than “pro-choice” for the first time since they started asking this question. Their news release begins like this:
A new Gallup Poll, conducted May 7-10, finds 51% of Americans calling themselves “pro-life” on the issue of abortion and 42% “pro-choice.” This is the first time a majority of U.S. adults have identified themselves as pro-life since Gallup began asking this question in 1995.
A Quinnipiac University poll of Roman Catholics shows that as a group, they tend to trend along the same lines as the rest of American voters.
Given four choices on abortion:
* 15 percent of all voters, including 13 percent of Catholics and 10 percent of observant Catholics, say abortion should be legal in all cases;
* 37 percent of all voters, including 37 percent of Catholics and 19 percent of observant Catholics, say abortion should be legal in most cases;
* 27 percent of all voters, including 28 percent of Catholics and 40 percent of observant Catholics, say abortion should be illegal in most cases;
* 14 percent of all voters, including 16 percent of Catholics and 26 percent of observant Catholics, say abortion should be illegal in all cases.
“What is interesting and often forgotten about the abortion issue is that despite church teachings, Roman Catholics’ views on abortion are pretty much the same as all Americans on the issue,” Brown added. “As in many cases, the opposition to the President’s invitation to Notre Dame comes from more outspoken members of the Catholic community, but does not represent the overall view of Catholics.”
While it appears that the two polls diverge in their conclusions, a closer reading shows that there is more going on.
The Quinnipiac poll asked whether abortion should be legal with 3 options given. The Gallup poll had two questions: (1) pro life or pro choice?; (2) should it be legal? (4 options given)
It was on the question of whether people self-identified as “pro-choice” or “pro-life” that Gallup find the majority now call themselves “pro-life.”
But on the questions about how this plays out in actual practice shows a more nuanced understanding of what it means to be either “pro-choice” or “pro-life.” Quinnipiac found that 52% of total respondents favor legality of abortion in all or most cases, but the Gallup results were even higher with 60% of those surveyed favoring legality of abortion in all or most cases.
To see how the headlines are being written see belief.net here and AP here.
Check out the actual surveys here for Gallupand here for Quinnipiac.