NRL News
Page 7
January  2007
Volume 34
Issue 1

Opinion Polls Show Undeniable Pro-Life Swing Among Young People
BY Lisa Andrusko

Gallup Poll of teens ages 13–17, August 2003:

•          72% said that abortion is morally wrong.

•          32% think abortion should be illegal in all circumstances.

•          47% said that abortion should be legal only under certain circumstances.

•          Only 19% believe abortion should be legal in all circumstances.

The Gallup Poll concludes that “[t]he young people are significantly more pro-life than adults.”

Pace University/Rock the Vote survey of first-time voters, those who registered to vote after the 2000 election, August 2004:

•          41% say “abortion should be legal only in the most extreme cases, such as to save the life of the mother, incest or rape.”

•          Only 21% percent believe “abortion should be legal and generally available.”

•          54% of new voters describe themselves as pro-life, while only 44% say they are “pro-choice.”

•          61% of first-time Latino voters are pro-life, compared to 34% who call themselves “pro-choice.”

•          59% of first-time Black voters are pro-life, and only 42% are “pro-choice.”

Hamilton College and Zogby International Youth Hot Button Issues Poll of 1,000 high school seniors, January 2006:

•          Two-thirds of high school seniors said they believe abortion is always or usually “morally wrong.”

•          70% of females and 67% of males would not consider abortion if they or their partner became pregnant in high school.

•          Asked what a high school senior who becomes pregnant should do,

•          54% said to place the baby for adoption;

•          26% said the girl should keep the baby; and

•          only 13% proposed abortion.

•          Two-thirds of high school seniors would require parental consent before a woman under the age of 18 could legally obtain an abortion.

Hamilton College Sociology Professor Dennis Gilbert oversaw the poll. He observed that when asked only general questions the high school seniors appear to be evenly split on abortion, but that “their answers to more detailed questions reveal that the great majority of seniors would significantly restrict access to abortion.”

Though liberal on other social issues, Prof. Gilbert wrote, “high school graduates are remarkably conservative on the issues surrounding abortion. We found that most high school seniors regard abortion as morally wrong and would significantly limit a woman’s right to choose.”