By Thaddeus M. Baklinski
NEW HAVEN, Connecticut, October 15, 2008 (LifeSIteNews.com) – A new poll conducted for the Knights of Columbus by the Marist College Institute of Public Opinion between Sept. 24 and Oct. 3, 2008 showed that almost all Americans think abortion should be restricted. The pollsters conducted over 1700 interviews with Americans across the country.
The purpose of the poll was to enable comparisons of the views of Catholic voters with those of the general electorate. The poll asked respondents to state which of six statements came closest to describing their opinion on abortion.
Only 8% chose option 1, which said that abortion should be available to a woman any time she wants one during her entire pregnancy, whereas 13% chose option 6, that abortion should never be permitted under any circumstance.
8% chose option 2, that abortion should be allowed only during the first 6 months of pregnancy and 24% chose option 3, that abortion should be allowed only during the first 3 months of pregnancy.
The highest number, 32%, chose option 4, that abortion should be allowed only in cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother, while 15% chose statement 5, that abortion should be allowed only to save the life of the mother.
The poll also revealed that only 15 percent of those describing themselves as “pro-choice” favored unrestricted abortion throughout a pregnancy.
71% of pro-choice respondents said they would significantly restrict abortions. Of these, 43 percent would restrict abortion to the first trimester and 23 percent would restrict abortion only to cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother.
Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson described the poll results as “indicative of the fact that the term ‘pro-choice’ – when applied broadly – needlessly polarizes the discussion of abortion and masks the fact that there is broad consensus among Americans that abortion should be significantly restricted.”
Link to full text of poll: https://www.kofc.org/un/cmf/resources/Communications/documents/moralissues.pdf