Opinions About Abortion Remain Remarkably Steady

By: Sarah Dutton
Topics: Poll Positions

(CBS)

One contentious element of the health care reform debate still under discussion in the Senate is whether or not the legislation should cover abortions. More than half of the public told a CBS News Poll conducted last month that health care reform should not cover abortions, while just 34 percent thought it should.

Americans' views about the government funding abortions, and about abortion itself, have remained stable for many years.

In 1994, CBS and the New York Times found 53 percent of Americans thought abortion should not be part of any government health care plan. In CBS News Polls conducted in the late 1970s, about half felt the government should not "help a poor woman with her medical bills if she wants an abortion."

Views have also been remarkably steady on the issue of abortion itself. In a CBS News Poll conducted in November, 34 percent felt abortion should be generally available to those who want it, 40 percent felt it should be available but under stricter limits than it is now, and 23 percent felt it should not be permitted at all.

?VIEWS ON ABORTION

	11/2009	6/2009	9/2008	5/2007
Generally available	34%	36%	37%	39%
Available, but limited	40%	41%	42%	37%
Not permitted	23%	21%	19%	21%
Don't Know	3%	2%	2%	3%

(CBS News Polls)

Those views on abortion have remained steady for more than ten years. In the early 1990s, the percentage that thought abortion should be generally available was slightly higher, at around four in 10.

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For an issue that may have different implications for men and women, there is little evidence of a gender gap. Thirty-one percent of women, and 37 percent of men, think abortion should be generally available. Women are more likely than men to think it should not be permitted at all, but still, just 27 percent of them feel that way.

?VIEWS ON ABORTION

	All	Women	Men
Generally available	34%	31%	37%
Available, but limited	40%	39%	41%
Not permitted	23%	27%	19%
Don't Know	3%	3%	3%

(CBS News Poll, November 2009)

Of course, there are ideological differences in opinion about abortion -- and this too has historically been the case.

In the November CBS News Poll, nearly half of Democrats said abortion should be generally available, compared to just 21 percent of Republicans. Republicans are more than twice as likely as Democrats to think it should not be permitted at all. Similarly, 55 percent of liberals think it should be available, but that drops to just 19 percent among conservatives. Nearly four in 10 conservatives think it should not be available.

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Sarah Dutton is the CBS News director of surveys. Poll Positions is weekly Hotsheet feature on polling trends from the CBS News Survey and Polling Unit. Click here for more posts from the series.

Sarah Dutton
Sarah Dutton is the CBS News director of surveys.
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by obwan222 December 9, 2009 8:33 AM EST: "There should be a Mechanism put in place that Senators can be Recalled by the people..."

There is - it's called an election. Senators have to go through the election process every six years. If a Senator that you don't like gets re-elected than either you didn't offer them a better choice or you didn't make your case.; Reply to this comment


by bacaangel December 9, 2009 7:31 AM EST: There should be a Mechanism put in place that Senators can be Recalled by the people in the states they are supposed to represent.... It is very disappointing to see the Power the Insurance Companies have on many senators in the Senate. There is not much we can do at this time but take what we can and cut our losses and not fail to remember Who those Senators were/are who care more for the Insurance Companies than the people they represent, and Vote them out come their turn to run again. There must be retribution for their failure to do what is right for the people. However, I do believe Sen Reid had the power to do a Reconciliation and I am disappointed that he did not have the Courage to take that road! They had a chance to do something Nobel, right and meaningful and because of a Few bad apples, the dream cannot be materialized. If we let them, the GOP and the Conserva-Dems will not only destroy the United States (guns and outsourcing jobs), they will destroy the world (climate change and love of wars). These enemies of the people are not Noble in otherwords -- they are not trustworthy, they are not lovers of humanity and they are the slaves of their cheating, deception and greed!

[Blackbird/Commenter on Alternet] "I live left the US about 7 years ago and live in Scandinavia. I have to say that socialized medicine is fantastic. Everyone gets treated, including nasty foreigners like myself. I love that I don't have to worry about it. The doctor is free, the hospital is free. Medicine is very cheap. My kids get free dental until they're 18. But even having to pay for dental is still pretty cheap. It's just great to not have to worry. It's too bad that americans are so easily frightened by words like socialism, because in reality, the whole idea is that everyone, regardless of their social or financial status, should have access to decent healthcare. I'm sure glad to live in a country which puts the welfare of its residents above the profits of industry. Socialized medicine works."

http://www.alternet.org/; Reply to this comment


by cleric60 December 8, 2009 5:52 PM EST: Why should we be forced to pay for the killing of an unborn child?
It is morally wrong. It is taking the life a human being Let the parents or family of the unborn child pay for the evil of having the unborn aborted.; Reply to this comment

by leroymerch December 8, 2009 5:39 PM EST

This article glosses rapidly over all the statistics presented; it seems to have a pre-conceived agenda to make, or perhaps to make "news" better on a slow news day. It needs to be rewritten.

Also, speaking as a male, the best folks to poll about abortion issues are WOMEN, period. If men can ever get pregnant, that is the time to ask them anything. Goes double for any male preachers, priests, etc.

Reply to this comment


by cleric60 December 8, 2009 5:56 PM EST: Hello leroymerch, it will be the majority of USA males, who work hard and pay taxes, that will end what paying for women, who chose to have sex with their male partners. Let their male partners pay for these immoral abortions.