A brand new CNN survey shows a supermajority of Americans want abortions proscribed in all or most circumstances (via LifeNews):
The survey asked: “Do you think abortion should be legal under any circumstances, legal under only certain circumstances, or illegal in all circumstances?” Some 62 percent want abortions illegal in all cases or legal only in certain instances while just 35% want abortions legal for any reason.Breaking down the question further, CNN asked, “Do you think abortion should be legal in most circumstances or only a few circumstances?”
Here, 52 percent took a pro-life view saying abortion should be illegal in all (15%) or most circumstances (37%) while just 44 percent took a pro-abortion view saying abortions should be legal in all (35%) or most (9%) circumstances.
Looking more closely at when abortions should be legal, CNN asked about if they should be allowed when the woman’s life is endangered. Americans agreed with that on a 88-9 percentage point margin. In cases of rape and incest, Americans supported legal abortions on a 83-14 percentage point margin. And when the woman’s health is supposedly in danger from the pregnancy, Americans were alright with abortion on a 83-12 percentage point margin.
That makes it clear Americans only support abortion in the most rare instances and clear oppose abortions in the 99 percent of cases when abortion is chosen for convenience, social or birth control reasons.
As Katie and Guy have noted, President Obama’s views on abortion (as demonstrated by his voting record as a State Senator) fall well outside mainstream public opinion. His opposition to the Born Alive Infant Protection Act (BAIPA) -- a bill, I think, almost all Americans can support -- should raise serious eyebrows. Still, Democrats persistently and falsely accuse Republicans of waging a “war on women.” This is simply infuriating, especially when one takes a few minutes to read the Republican Party’s 2012 platform on abortion -- a practice that has ended the lives of millions of innocent unborn girls since Roe vs. Wade. Here’s an excerpt:
THE SANCTITY AND DIGNITY OF HUMAN LIFE Faithful to the "self-evident" truths enshrined in the Declaration of Independence, we assert the sanctity of human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed. We support a human life amendment to the Constitution and endorse legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment's protections apply to unborn children. We oppose using public revenues to promote or perform abortion or fund organizations which perform or advocate it and will not fund or subsidize health care which includes abortion coverage. We support the appointment of judges who respect traditional family values and the sanctity of innocent human life. We oppose the non-consensual withholding or withdrawal of care or treatment, including food and water, from people with disabilities, including newborns, as well as the elderly and infirm, just as we oppose active and passive euthanasia and assisted suicide.
In other words, I personally find it difficult to argue Republicans are waging a “war on women” when the Republican Party itself unequivocally opposes, for example, sex selective abortions (unlike most House Democrats) and upholds the sanctity and dignity of every human life. At any rate, I’ll leave you with this: Florida Senator Marco Rubio making the case -- earlier this year -- that the United States can never live up to its founding principles until it deals openly and honestly with the issue of abortion. It is, indeed, an eloquent and remarkable speech -- and worth watching in its entirety:
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