Majority of Americans identify as pro-choice, but most support some legal limits to abortion

WASHINGTON (OSV News) — Although most Americans describe themselves as pro-choice, a majority also would support some legal limits on abortion, despite keeping the procedure largely available, according to a new Marist Poll sponsored by the Knights of Columbus.

Among Americans, 62 percent identified as pro-choice, while 37 percent identified as pro-life, according to a Knights of Columbus/Marist Poll released Jan. 22, the day before the 53rd annual March for Life.

However, the annual survey, commissioned by the international Catholic fraternal organization and conducted by the Marist Poll at Marist College, also records Americans’ views on more specific proposals to limit abortion, such as limiting the procedure to the first three months of pregnancy in most circumstances.

The poll found that 57 percent of respondents said they would limit elective abortion to at most the first trimester, while 63 percent of Americans said health care professionals with religious objections to abortions should not be legally required to perform or participate in them, and 88 percent said they believe that laws can protect both the mother and her unborn child.

“Despite the publicly heated debates about abortion, there remains a consensus of opinion on this issue among Americans,” Barbara L. Carvalho, director of the Marist Poll, said in a statement. “Americans believe abortion should be limited yet include exceptions for rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother. Despite the changes in practice that have occurred since the Supreme Court’s landmark Dobbs decision, public opinion has remained consistent.”

The U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, issued in June 2022, reversed the high court’s prior jurisprudence in the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which had found abortion a constitutional right, as well as related rulings.

For more than a decade, each year’s version of the Knights of Columbus-Marist Poll has shown that Americans broadly support some limits to abortion, even where they would keep the practice generally available, Knights of Columbus Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly said in a statement.

“The Knights of Columbus-Marist Poll continues to show that a majority of Americans support legal restrictions on abortion,” Kelly said. “At the same time, a growing majority support pregnancy resource centers, which provide assistance to mothers and their children in their time of greatest need.”

The poll found 84% of respondents said they support pregnancy resource centers, which it defined as “places that do not perform abortions but instead offer support to people during their pregnancy and after the baby is born.”

Kelly added, “The Knights have supported vulnerable women and their children since our founding by Blessed Michael McGivney more than 140 years ago, and our commitment has never wavered. And now, we’re guided by the encouraging words of Pope Leo XIV, who recently mentioned in his “State of the World” address, ‘life is a priceless gift,’ and that, as Catholics, we have a ‘fundamental ethical imperative’ to ‘welcome and fully care for unborn life.’ The Knights of Columbus’ mission will continue to be guided by these principles until abortion becomes unthinkable.”

The Catholic Church teaches that all human life is sacred from conception to natural death, and as such, opposes direct abortion. After the Dobbs decision, Church officials in the U.S. have reiterated the Church’s concern for both mother and child, and called to strengthen available support for those living in poverty or other causes that can increase the risk of abortion.

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