Poll Shows Americans Strongly Back Partial-Birth Abortion Ban

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
November 25, 2003

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A poll conducted by the Gallup Organization earlier this month finds that a strong majority of Americans continue to support the ban on partial-birth abortions. The poll found Bush's signature of the abortion ban "met with broad approval" by the American public.

In Gallup's latest poll, 68% of the public says the abortion procedure should be illegal, while only 25% say it should be legal.

Younger Americans show some of the strongest feelings about the ban as 77 percent of adults 18 to 29 years of age said they thought it was a good idea.

"The wide agreement among men and women on this issue, regardless of political party, shows that bitterness in political debate can be overcome by compassion and the power of conscience," President Bush said during the bill signing ceremony.

Even among respondents describing themselves as "pro-choice," 50 percent support the ban while 42 percent do not.

Abortion advocates say the partial-birth abortion ban is a first step by President Bush in banning all abortions. However, the poll found that "Bush is unlikely to lose much support over the issue."

Most doctors back the bill too, despite claims by pro-abortion groups that the medical community is against the pro-life legislation.

In a survey reported in Medical Economics last fall, 44 percent of physicians favored making partial-birth abortion illegal. Some 27 percent opposed it and 28 percent were undecided. Of obstetricians and gynecologists, 57 percent favored the ban.

Pro-life advocates say the partial-birth abortion ban has been instrumental in educating Americans about the horror of abortion and its impact on women and unborn children.

It "had an educational purpose from the beginning -- one, for the first time showing [Americans] how one type of abortion can be done ... and two, teaching them something about the state of the law about how little protection is provided [for unborn children]," Douglas Johnson of the National Right to Life Committee told the Baptist Press.

"Lawmakers, journalists and millions of American [have] been educated, and that has prevented abortions already," Johnson said. "Lord knows how many women, and the partners [who would have pressured them], have decided not to have abortions as a result."