Pew: “Only 15% of the Public Thinks That Having an Abortion is Morally Acceptable”

Daniel Doherty | August 17, 2013 8:30 AM

Tell that to Planned Parenthood and their enablers:

Asked whether abortion is morally acceptable, morally wrong or not a moral issue, only about a quarter of U.S. adults (23%) say they personally do not consider having an abortion to be a moral issue, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center. Twice as many Americans (46%) say this about using in vitro fertilization. Asked about the morality of medical research that uses embryonic stem cells, more than a third of U.S. adults (36%) say they do not consider such research to be a moral issue. Roughly four-in-ten (42%) say the same about stem cell research that does not involve human embryos.
The percentage of U.S. adults who consider abortion to be morally wrong (49%) far exceeds the percentage who express this view about in vitro fertilization (12%), non-embryonic stem cell research (16%) or embryonic stem cell research (22%).

Only 15% of the public thinks that having an abortion is morally acceptable. By comparison, about a third of U.S. adults say they personally view IVF and both forms of stem cell research as morally acceptable practices.

These are some of the findings from a survey by the Pew Research Center’s Religion & Public Life Project conducted March 21 to April 8, 2013, among a representative sample of 4,006 adults nationwide. The margin of error for the survey is plus or minus 2.1 percentage points.

In my view, these statistics expose just how out of touch the Left is with mainstream Americans on this issue, and why the absurd protests in Texas over a late-term abortion ban were almost certainly carried about by radical, pro-abortion zealots. If only 15 percent of the public believes having an abortion (at any stage of pregnancy) is morally acceptable, then presumably even less people would be willing to defend the practice of late-term abortion, much less travel all the way to Texas to scream “Hail Satan!” at pro-life activists. Sure, the public is evenly divided about abortion rights generally, but the legality of the practice doesn’t really concern me here. That is to say, if the public is beginning to recognize that abortion is inherently immoral (and in fact probably already does) then won't changes in federal and states law inevitably follow over time?

After all, we’re already starting to see that happen.

H/T: LifeNews