Poll: Abortion marchers out of step with public
- May 14, 2004 -
A poll conducted in mid-April showed those who participated in the March for Women’s Lives are out of step with most Americans.
A crowd estimated at a minimum of 500,000 gathered in Washington, D.C., for an April 25 rally that promoted an unrestricted right to abortion, but a survey barely a week old demonstrated only about 13 percent of those polled believe abortion should be permitted for any reason at any time during a pregnancy.
According to a Zogby International survey conducted April 15-17, 56 percent of Americans believe abortion should never be legal or legal only when the mother’s life is endangered or in cases of pregnancy from rape or incest. Of the 42 percent of those surveyed who disagree with the majority, 25 percent say abortion should be legal for any reason the first three months, 4 percent for any reason the first six months and 13 percent for any reason during all nine months.
Opposition to abortion is even stronger among young people and ethnic groups. Among 18-to-29-year-olds surveyed, 60 percent oppose abortion except to protect the mother’s life and in cases of rape or incest. Among African-Americans, 62 percent oppose abortion with those limited exceptions. Among Hispanics, 78 percent oppose abortion with such exceptions.
At the march and rally, actresses, musicians and members of Congress joined the leaders of such organizations as Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro-choice America to call for the protection of abortion rights and the defeat of President Bush in this year’s election.
Sen. Hillary Clinton, D.-N.Y., told the marchers the Bush administration is “filled with people who . . . consider Roe v. Wade the worst abomination of constitutional law in our history,” the Associated Press reported.
Among the religious organizations endorsing the march were the Episcopal Church, Presbyterian Church (USA) and United Methodist Board of Church and Society.