Views on Abortion Grow Less Polarized

March 9, 2007 — -- Public opinion on abortion has taken a gradual and surprising turn -- toward moderation.

Basic opinions are unchanged: Fifty-six percent of Americans say abortion should be generally legal and 42 percent say it should be generally illegal, almost precisely matching the averages in ABC News/Washington Post polls since 1995.

But more now take the middle two positions -- that abortion should be legal in most cases, but not all, or illegal in most cases, but not all. Seventy percent take one of those two views, the most ever -- 39 percent on the "mostly legal" side, 31 percent "mostly illegal."

That leaves 28 percent who now take the more extreme positions -- that abortion should be legal or illegal in all cases (16 and 12 percent, respectively) -- the fewest ever in ABC/Post polls, down from a high of 43 percent in 2004, and nine points below the long-term average.

The number of Americans who say abortion should be legal in all cases, 16 percent, is down 11 points from its peak of 27 percent in 1995. At the same time, the 12 percent who say abortion should be flatly illegal is down eight points from its high, 20 percent in 2001 and 2004. As these have fallen, "mostly legal" and "mostly illegal" responses have risen.

GROUPS -- The trend toward the middle since 2004 has occurred disproportionately among some groups, including women, evangelical white Protestants and Catholics.

Women and men have essentially the same views on abortion -- at the extreme and moderate positions alike -- and both have shifted toward the center. Among women, compared with mid-2004, 19 percent fewer now take one of the two more extreme positions -- that abortion should be legal in all cases (now 17 percent, down from 26 percent) or that it should always be illegal (now 11 percent, down from 21 percent).

The change among men has been less pronounced, with 12 percent fewer taking either more extreme stance. Twelve percent of men say abortion should be illegal in all cases, down from 20 percent; and 16 percent say it should be legal in all cases, compared with 20 percent in 2004.