Roe v. Wade at 40

American attitudes about abortion over the past 40 years have been extraordinarily stable. Gallup has polled people about the legality of abortion more than 50 times since 1975, and public opinion has barely budged. Americans want to keep abortion legal, but they are willing to put significant restrictions on its use. They favor waiting periods, spousal notification, and a parent’s consent when a minor wants to have an abortion. They say it should be possible for a woman to obtain a legal abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy, but strong majorities oppose abortion in the second and third trimesters. In a Gallup question that has been asked in presidential election years since 1992, between 13 and 17 percent of those surveyed have said they could only vote for a candidate who shared their views on abortion. AEI’s January Political Report reviews the polling evidence on this controversial issue.

Source: The Gallup Organization, latest that of May 2012.