Support for Abortion Slips

Issue Ranks Lower on the Agenda

Polls conducted in 2009 have found fewer Americans expressing support for abortion than in previous years. In Pew Research Center polls in 2007 and 2008, supporters for legal abortion clearly outnumbered opponents; now Americans are evenly divided on the question, and there have been modest increases in the numbers who favor reducing abortions or making them harder to obtain. Less support for abortion is evident among most demographic and political groups.

The latest Pew Research survey also reveals that the abortion debate has receded in importance, especially among liberals. At the same time, opposition to abortion has grown firmer among conservatives, who have become less supportive of finding a middle ground on the issue and more certain of the correctness of their own views on abortion...

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