Gallup Abortion Poll

Editor and Publisher reported on last month's Gallup Poll on US attitudes and preferences concerning abortion. But, they skewed the results, saying

More than three-fourths of the respondents feel that abortion should be legal in varying circumstances. Thirty-nine percent of the respondents said that abortion should only be legal in a few circumstances.

The fact is that 74% would restrict abortion, at least in some circumstances. 39% who would restrict abortion in most circumstances, plus the 16% who would ban abortion outright and an additional 16% who would make abortion illegal, at least in some circumstances. It just depends on how you read the numbers, I guess.

At least E&P covered the poll. Not many others did.
There was very limited coverage of the November 2005 Gallup poll concerning the general US approval of limitations on abortion, with only slightly more attention to the numbers concerning parental consent and notification.

Unfortunately, the poll results themselves require subscription , and so, most people are dependent on media sources to see them. Well, here they are:


2005 Nov 11-13
Legal under any circumstances 26%
Legal under most circumstances 16%
Legal in only a few circumstances 39%
Illegal in all circumstances 16%
No Opinion 2%


In fact, those numbers have been very stable over the last 30 years, with approximately 50-55% choosing "under certain circumstances" every year, going as high as 61% in 1997. "Legal under any circumstances" has been consistently under 30%, except for the years 1990-1992, rising to 34% in June and July 1992.That was the only year that the "legal under circumstances dropped to 49%.

Last month's poll included a question about parental consent for minor girls, but did not ask about notification of parents (The focus of the Supreme Court testimony last week). That poll showed that 69% of those polled are in favor of consent, which is a higher duty than simply letting the parents know about the abortion.

Most U.S. adults think parents should not just be notified, but should have to give their permission, before a minor daughter has an abortion. For more than a decade, Gallup has found roughly 7 in 10 Americans favoring laws that require women under 18 to receive parental consent for any abortion. The latest poll, conducted Nov. 11-13, finds 69% in favor and 28% opposed to such laws.

and, in fact,

However, rather than being solidly opposed to parental consent, abortion rights advocates are somewhat closely divided on the issue. Nearly half of those who think all abortions should be legal favor parental consent laws; just 52% oppose them. The majority (58%) of those who think abortions should be legal in most circumstances say they favor such laws.