Majority of U.S. adults think abortion is wrong & should be restricted

The majority of Americans believe abortion is morally wrong and should be limited, a new poll has found.

A Marist Poll, commissioned by Roman Catholic group the Knights of Columbus, shows that six in ten American adults believe abortion is wrong, and seven in ten think it should be significantly restricted.

According to the poll, more than 60 per cent of Americans also oppose the use of tax dollars for abortion in the U.S., while eight in ten oppose funding abortion abroad.

Broad opposition

The survey, of over 2,700 people, found cross-party support for the significant restriction of abortion.

A majority of voters who backed Hillary Clinton (55 per cent) and more than nine in ten Donald Trump voters (91 per cent) voiced support for this.

Nearly six in ten Americans said restricting abortion to the first trimester is either an immediate or an important priority, and even four in ten pro-abortion respondents agreed this was the case.

‘Heartening’

Commenting on the poll, Carl Anderson, head of the Knights of Columbus, said: “There is a consensus in America in favour of significant abortion restrictions, and this common ground exists across party lines”.

“This poll shows that large percentages of Americans, on both sides of the aisle, are united in their opposition to the status quo as it relates to abortion on demand. This is heartening and can help start a new national conversation on abortion”, he added.

Dr Barbara Carvalho, director of Marist Poll, said it implied that the issue of abortion is more complex than the ‘pro-life’ and ‘pro-choice’ labels usually attributed to each side.

Mexico City Policy

The news comes after President Trump reinstated the “Mexico City Policy”, which prohibits non-governmental organisations from promoting or providing abortions as a method of ‘family planning’ overseas.

The policy will prevent U.S. taxpayers’ money being used by organisations which promote or participate in abortion. This will include groups like abortion giant Planned Parenthood International.

It will also ban these organisations from advocating pro-abortion laws in overseas countries.

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