4 Key Facts About America’s Abortion Debate

If there’s one thing pro-life and pro-choice agree on, the Supreme Court is more than likely to overturn the Roe v. Wade decision from five decades ago, effectively making abortion at all gestation stages illegal.

As legislators in Republican states table more anti-abortion bills, World Now! looks at where this debate stands today in light of the following facts.

1. The Majority Remains Pro-Choice

According to a Pew survey, around 59% of US adults believe abortion should be legal. However, a strong majority (39%) also believe abortion should be illegal. Despite these numbers, not everyone is entirely pro-choice or pro-life.

For instance, 34% of the surveyed population believes it should be legal in most cases, ‘most’ being the keyword. Similarly, 26% of US adults think it should be illegal in most cases. Only a small percentage takes an absolutist position on the abortion debate.

2. The Partisan Gap Has Never Been Wider

While the partisan gap between the opinion of Democrats and Republicans has always been too wide to ignore, it’s never been this wide. Democrats or Democrat-leaning individuals are more likely—80% more likely—to support abortions than Republicans or Republican-leaning individuals, of whom only 35% were more likely to support the abortion ban.

It’s a contentious issue, to be sure. However, sample bias notwithstanding, the increasing divide doesn’t support the likely decision of the Roe v. Wade review.

3. Pro-Life Might Be Rooted in Religious Affiliations

The religious affiliations of pro-life respondents may have something to do with their stance. For instance, the following groups believe abortion should be illegal:

77% of White evangelical Protestants.
63% of White non-evangelical Protestants.
55% of Catholics.

Conversely, 82% of respondents that don’t have a religious affiliation take the pro-choice stance, further cementing the correlation between abortion and religious affiliation.

4. Most Don’t Want a Complete Reversal of Roe v. Wade

While the Roe v. Wade decision is in no way a complete representation of the pro-life or pro-choice stance, it addresses both sides of the argument to a certain extent. Perhaps that’s why 7 out of 10 Americans don’t want the decision to be overturned in its entirety.

Again, you’ll see that Democrats are more likely than Republicans to hold this view, with the latter more divided than the former on overturning the decision entirely.

The Roe v. Wade verdict is due this July. Stay tuned for more on this developing story and other national and world affairs on World Now!, your only online resource for bipartisan debates, op-eds, current affairs, and breaking news.