Poll finds 55% of Americans identify as pro-choice


A Gallup poll released Thursday finds 55% of Americans surveyed identify as pro-choice, the highest percentage since the company first started asking the question in 1995. File Photo by Chris Chew/UPI | License Photo

June 2 (UPI) -- A majority of Americans now identify as being pro-choice, according to a poll released Thursday.

The Gallup poll found 55% of Americans are pro-choice, the highest figure since the company first measured the opinion 27 years ago, when it came in at 56% in 1995.

It also found 39% of people identify as pro-life, which is the lowest number since 1996.

Over the past decade, between 45% and 50% of Americans have typically identified as pro-choice, according to Gallup. That figure stood at 49% in 2021.

The increase on the pro-choice side is mostly made up of Democrats. A total of 88% of Democrats polled identify as pro-choice, an increase from 70% the year before.

There also were significant swings among women and younger adults. Among adults age 18 to 34, pro-choice identification climbed to 67%, an increase of 12 percentage points. For women, that increase was 9 percentage points, for a total of 61%.

The pro-choice percentage did not change significantly this year among Republicans, independent voters, men or older Americans.

The poll also found 52% majority of Americans do consider abortion to be morally acceptable, while 38% call it morally wrong, which is a record low since Gallup began asking the question. The company first started asking the abortion morality question in 2001.

Only 13% of those surveyed believe abortion should be illegal in any situation, regardless of circumstances. That number is down 6 percentage points over the previous year and the lowest number since Gallup first began asking the question in 1995.

The results come a month after the U.S. Supreme Court confirmed a leaked draft opinion at the start of May to overturn the landmark abortion ruling in Roe vs. Wade was authentic.

In that opinion, drafted in February and first reported by Politico, Justice Samuel Alito was joined by four Republican-appointed justices in the decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade's holding of a federal constitutional right to abortion and Planned Parenthood vs. Casey, which largely maintained that right.