Commentary by Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Another poll has found that significant majorities of Americans oppose the use of tax dollars to fund abortions and want the U.S. Supreme Court to rule in favor of abortion restrictions.
A new Marist Poll sponsored by the Knights of Columbus has found that 83 percent of Americans oppose the use of tax dollars to support abortion overseas and 61 percent oppose the use of taxpayer money to fund abortions at home. This includes almost nine in 10 Trump supporters (87 percent) and nearly four in 10 Clinton supporters (39 percent).
The poll also found that nearly three-quarters (74 percent) of those surveyed want abortion restricted to, at most, the first trimester, and are in favor of the Supreme Court ruling in favor of those restrictions. In total, this amounts to 55 percent of Americans who support such action by the court.
“The poll demonstrates that there is a clear bi-partisan consensus on limiting abortion to – at most – the first trimester, with a majority of Clinton supporters (55 percent) and more than nine in 10 Trump supporters (91 percent) saying they support such limits,” the Knights report.
Enacting these restrictions is a priority for six in 10 people (59 percent) and is either an immediate priority (34 percent) or an important one (25 percent). This includes 78 percent of Republicans and almost half of Democrats (47 percent). Even among those who identify as pro-choice, more than four in 10 say restricting abortion is an immediate or important priority.
“There is a consensus in America in favor of significant abortion restrictions, and this common ground exists across party lines, and even among significant numbers of those who are pro-choice,” said Knights of Columbus CEO Carl Anderson.
“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.”
The time has come for Americans on both sides of the aisle to face the changing reality of the abortion issue in this country. Elective abortion simply does not enjoy the favor among the general public that it once did. This forty-year experiment with a “woman’s right to choose” has resulted in the death of millions of Americans and the devastation of countless grieving women. The time has come to enact laws that reflect the lessons we have learned from the grave mistake we made 44 years ago.
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