Title: 5 facts about the abortion debate in America | Pew Research Center
Headings: 5 facts about the abortion debate in America
5 facts about the abortion debate in America
Content: On both sides of the issue, Americans are more likely than not to leave room for exceptions, with more saying abortion should be legal or illegal most of the time, rather than always. Public support for legal abortion remains as high as it has been in two decades of polling, and there is virtually no difference between the views of men and women. 2 There is a substantial – and growing – partisan divide on abortion, with Democrats and those who lean toward the Democratic Party much more likely than Republicans and GOP leaners to support legal abortion in all or most cases (82% vs. 36%). There also are large gaps based on religious affiliation. For example, three-quarters of white evangelical Protestants (77%) say abortion should be illegal in all or most cases, while an even larger share of religiously unaffiliated Americans (83%) take the opposing view, saying that abortion should be mostly or entirely legal. 3 When it comes to the Supreme Court’s 1973 landmark abortion ruling, seven-in-ten Americans (70%) in the 2019 survey said Roe v. Wade should not be completely overturned. Again, Democrats are far more likely than Republicans to hold this view; Republicans are roughly evenly divided, with 50% saying they do not want to see Roe v. Wade completely overturned and 48% saying they would like the decision tossed out. Overall, similar majorities of women (70%) and men (69%) do not want Roe v. Wade overturned. 4 In a December 2017 survey, roughly half of Americans (48%) said having an abortion is morally wrong, while 20% said they think it is morally acceptable and 31% said it is not a moral issue.