Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Read our research on:
1. Americans’ views on whether, and in what circumstances, abortion should be legal
Public split on whether woman who had an abortion in a situation where it was illegal should be penalized
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- 1. Americans’ views on whether, and in what circumstances, abortion should be legal
- Americans’ views of abortion, 1995-2022
- Large share of Americans say abortion should be legal in some cases and illegal in others
- Sizable gaps by age, partisanship in views of whether abortion should be legal
- Religion a significant factor in attitudes about whether abortion should be legal
- A majority of U.S. adults say how long a woman has been pregnant should be a factor in determining whether abortion should be legal
- More adults support restrictions on abortion later in pregnancy, with sizable shares saying ‘it depends’ at multiple points in pregnancy
- A third of Republicans say abortion should be illegal six weeks into pregnancy; among Democrats, a third say abortion should be legal at 24 weeks
- Majority of atheists say abortion should be legal at 24 weeks of pregnancy
- Majorities say abortion should be legal if pregnancy threatens woman’s life; more uncertainty when it comes to baby being born with severe disabilities
- Democrats broadly favor legal abortion in situations of rape or when a pregnancy threatens woman’s life; smaller majorities of Republicans agree
- White evangelicals less likely than other Christians to say abortion should be legal in cases of rape, health concerns
- Age, ideological divides in views of whether parents should be notified before abortion performed on minor
- Public split on whether woman who had an abortion in a situation where it was illegal should be penalized
- Relatively few say women, medical providers should serve jail time for illegal abortions, but three-in-ten say doctors should lose medical license