Tuesday, June 02, 2009

How do Americans feel about Roe?

Carl Anderson, Supreme Grand Knight of the Knights of Columbus, has a posting on the Blog “Zenit” comparing two significant US court decisions of the twentieth century. He points out the almost universal acceptance by Americans of the Brown v. Board of Education ruling and the growing rejection of the Roe v. Wade ruling.

“And just how do Americans feel about Roe?

Beyond just agreeing on ancillary issues like adoption or help for women in crisis pregnancies, surveys have found common ground among Americans on the issue of abortion itself.

The Pew survey found that only 18% favored legalized abortion “in all cases,” 28% said it should be legal in “most cases,” 28% said it should be “illegal in most cases,” and 16% said it should be illegal in all cases.

That is, 72% of Americans oppose unrestricted abortion; only 18% are in favor.

The even more recent Gallup poll found that a majority of Americans now identify themselves as “pro-life.” Overall, it -- like the Pew survey -- found that 76% of Americans disagree with of the Roe regime of unrestricted abortion, while only 22% agree.

Taken together, these polls show that Americans, by a more than 3:1 margin, want restrictions on abortion -- a remarkable, if largely unnoticed consensus.”

Read his entire commentary on Zenit.

No comments: