Public Opinion
See also: Societal attitudes towards abortion, United States pro-choice movement, and United States pro-life movementGenerally speaking, in the United States induced abortions become more controversial the later they are performed into the pregnancy.
Gallup notes that abortion attitudes are shifting. Gallup declared in May 2010 that more Americans identifying as "pro-life" is "the new normal", while also noting that there had been no increase in opposition to abortion. It suggested that political polarization may have prompted more Republicans to call themselves "pro-life". The terms "pro-choice" and "pro-life" do not always reflect a political view or fall along a binary; in one Public Religion Research Institute poll, seven in ten Americans described themselves as "pro-choice" while almost two-thirds described themselves as "pro-life".
| Date of poll | Pro-life | Pro-choice | Mixed / neither | Don't know what terms mean | No opinion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011, May 5–8 | 45% | 49% | 3% | 2% | 2% |
| 2010, March 26–28 | 46% | 45% | 4% | 2% | 3% |
| 2009, November 20–22 | 45% | 48% | 2% | 2% | 3% |
| 2009, May 7–10 | 51% | 42% | - | 0 | 7% |
| 2008, September 5–7 | 43% | 51% | 2% | 1% | 3% |
Read more about this topic: Abortion In The United States
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“Our government rests in public opinion. Whoever can change public opinion, can change the government, practically just so much.”
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)