The raging debate over late-term abortion, sparked by new laws in New York and Virginia that sought to guarantee abortion rights should Roe v. Wade be overturned, has pushed more Americans into the pro-life camp, according to a new poll.
Barbara Carvalho, who directed the new Marist poll commissioned by the Knights of Columbus, a pro-life Catholic organization, said the numbers showed “a dramatic shift” in attitudes about abortion policy.
“Current proposals that promote late-term abortion have reset the landscape and language on abortion in a pronounced — and very measurable — way,” Carvalho said in a statement on the Knights’ website.
The survey showed that Americans were now as likely to identify as pro-life as they were pro-choice, with both at 47 percent.
Last month, a Marist survey on abortion found that Americans were more likely to identify as pro-choice than pro-life by a margin of 55 to 38 percent.
“The recent legal changes to late-term abortion and the debate which followed have not gone unnoticed by the general public,” Carvalho said.
“In just one month, there has been a significant increase in the proportion of Americans who see themselves as pro-life and an equally notable decline in those who describe themselves as pro-choice.”
The Marist poll also revealed that 80 percent of Americans believe abortion should be limited to the first three months of pregnancy, a 15-point increase since last month’s poll.
The new survey found that 34 percent of Democrats identified as pro-life compared to 61 percent who said they were pro-choice. In the last poll, those numbers were 20 percent and 75 percent.
Americans under 45 had the biggest shift, with 47 percent saying they were pro-life as opposed to 48 percent who said they were pro-choice. In January, those numbers were 28 percent and 65 percent.
Republicans are making abortion rights a key issue as the 2020 campaign nears, highlighting Virginia Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam’s controversial comments about late-term abortion and the new measures in New York and Virginia.
The Trump administration on Friday issued a new regulation that would bar family planning organizations that receive federal money from either offering referrals to abortion providers or being housed in the same physical location as abortion providers.
Evangelical Christians applauded the move, while reproductive rights advocates slammed it as another GOP attack on women’s rights.