In a poll of 1,009 adults conducted by Zogby International Nov. 12-14 (paid for by the Buffalo News), about one-third of those surveyed said their views on abortion had changed in the past decade. Twenty-two percent had become less in favor of abortion, compared to 11 percent who had become more in favor. Young adults were more likely than their parents or grandparents to support a total ban on abortion: One-third of people ages 18 to 29 said abortion should never be legal, compared to 23 percent for those ages 30 to 64, and about 20 percent for those over age 65.
A University of California, Berkeley, poll found a similar growing generation gap. Young people (ages 15 to 26) were about 10 percentage points more likely to support abortion restrictions than their elders, by a margin of 44 percent to 34 percent. They are also more supportive of prayer in school and government funding of faith-based charities than their elders. "We were surprised by the greater support among young Americans for some aspects of the conservative cultural agenda," said one of the authors. "If the youth of today maintain these positions on religious politics and abortion as the years go by, then the American public as a whole could become more conservative on these issues."
Polls like this show two things: There is something about targeting the unborn for extinction that does not sit well, 30 years after Roe vs. Wade. And the idea that history marches inevitably in any direction is just plain wrong.