In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark abortion ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, the life issue has reached a fever pitch — and the battle is nowhere near over.
Amid the abortion chaos, some on the pro-choice side are pointing to polling surrounding Roe to try and prove the American public is settled in favor of their contentions. And some of the statistics show that, on Roe, there is more support for not overturning than for overriding.
For example, a Marist poll conducted after Friday’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision found 56% opposed the Supreme Court overturning Roe, compared to 40% who supported the move.
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But, while these statistics matter, other more complex polling that digs deeper into the issue and extends beyond merely questioning whether Roe v. Wade — the 1973 Supreme Court case that legalized abortion nationwide — should be overturned shows the pro-life proclivities that permeate both sides of the divide.
Consider a new survey from Americans United for Life (AUL) and YouGov, which measured “attitudes toward abortion, personhood, and legal rights.”
The survey was conducted in May after the leaked draft of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization draft (and before the official decision came out June 24).
A statement for AUL called the statistics gleaned “encouraging for pro-life advances.” Just consider that, despite language and arguments often postulated to the contrary, 55% of Americans believe an unborn baby is a person either at conception or within the first 12 weeks of a woman’s pregnancy.
And the vast majority of the 1,000 U.S. adults surveyed — 86% — said they believe a fetus is a person when it can survive outside of the mother’s womb. Meanwhile, just over 51% of Americans also said they think abortion “ends the life of a human before birth.”
Some of the most powerful proportions were found when the poll asked about rights of the unborn. Seventy percent said they strongly support the rights of unborn children to be protected from violence and assault, and 71% said they support the right for them to be protected from drugs and substances.
Still, more than half — 56% — strongly or somewhat opposed state lawmakers having the power to stop abortion (44% support this). You can read more of the results here.
These more specific questions help get beyond binary choices when it comes to asking about overturning Roe or seeking self-described labels like “pro-life” and “pro-choice.”
While those questions, again, matter, the more profound issues are often overlooked or underplayed — and poll after poll shows this dynamic is at play.
Catherine Glenn Foster, president and CEO of AUF, said the data shows Americans’ support for unborn human life.
“We see powerfully through our latest AUL/YouGov national survey how intuitively supportive Americans are of the human right to life and legal rights for children prior to birth,” Foster said. “We also see the tension between Americans’ convictions and the role of law in shaping culture.”
She continued, “We must work together to give our beliefs a voice in the law, which exists to ensure justice and equal protection for all members of the human family.”
Continue to pray for America as the Supreme Court’s Dobbs ruling sparks tensions. As Faithwire has reported, numerous churches and pro-life clinics have been attacked and harassed since the Dobbs leak; additional attacks have unfolded since the final ruling.
The Gresham Pregnancy Resource Center in Oregon — attacked before the Dobbs decision was finalized — is among the affected clinics. The building was lit ablaze June 11 by unknown vandals after an incendiary was thrown through one of the clinic’s windows. At least one room at the center is destroyed, with water and smoke damage likely throughout.
Read more about that story here.
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