WASHINGTON, D.C. — Nearly eight in 10 Americans believe abortion should be legal to some degree, and a majority don’t want Roe v. Wade overturned. At the same time, the country is far from unified on the extent to which abortion should be legal.
According to Gallup’s May 2020 update on Americans’ abortion views, 29% believe abortion should be legal “under any circumstances,” 14% say it should be legal “under most circumstances” and 35% say it should be legal “only in a few circumstances.” Meanwhile, 20% say it should be illegal in all circumstances.
The demographic breakdown of these abortion views can be found on Gallup’s Legality of Abortion, 2018-2020 Demographic Tables page.
The combined 79% of Americans who think abortion should be legal in all or under certain circumstances echoes the majority public support Gallup consistently finds for upholding Roe v. Wade. Gallup measured public support for the landmark abortion decision ahead of the 2018 confirmation hearings for Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and the findings are discussed in this article:
Nearly Two-Thirds of Americans Want Roe v. Wade to Stand
On the other hand, the finding that 70% […]
In the 60’s abortions were illegal, and birth control was very hard to get as well, unless you were married or privileged. So, like me, young girls got pregnant. A great many of us did what I had to do at 16 – give our babies up for adoption. We remained tormented by this trauma for a lifetime. not to mention the punishment of a patriarchal society that brands such things “illigitimate”. Some went to Mexico, risking their health in abortion clinics there. A majority, as is still true particularly among the poor, kept their unwanted babies, becoming child mothers struggling to raise children they were unprepared for, resulting in generations of abused, abandoned, and certainly impoverished lives.
But the “morality” of such religious systems as Catholicism was upheld – a “morality” that goes right back to the “ligitimate” ownership of female bodies and lives. Another word for that is institutionalized slavery, millenia of it.
Many women even used coat-hangers to abort their own babies from being born, which was a horrible way to do it.
Even the GOP is not stupid enough to make abortion illegal. Abortion is their rallying cry; it’s what keeps people voting for the GOP and man o man, they need people to vote for them because the demographics are against them.