Research Reveals Religious Americans Split on Issue of Abortion
- Updated Jul 12, 2017
A new study conducted by the Pew Research Center has found that even religious Americans are split on the issue of abortion.
Although it probably comes as no surprise that Americans of different political affiliations have different views regarding abortion, it is somewhat more noteworthy that Americans who claim to have faith are divided on this issue.
Christian Today breaks down the findings from the Pew Research Center survey:
Although the Catholic Church is known for its firm pro-life stance, the survey found that 53 percent of U.S. Catholics believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases, while only 44 percent said it should be illegal.
Additionally, 67 percent of mainline Protestants believe abortion should be legal, while 30 percent believe it should be illegal. Among black Protestants the statistics were somewhat lower: 55 percent in favor and 41 percent opposed.
White evangelicals were the group most opposed to abortion; seventy percent oppose abortion, while only 29 percent believe it should be legal.
The religious group most supportive of abortion was religious “nones”--those who are not affiliated with a particular denomination. Only 17 percent of this group opposed abortion.
Another interesting finding of the survey was that Republicans have actually increased their opposition to abortion since a decade ago.
In 1995, 49 percent of Republicans supported abortion, while 48 percent were against it. Today, 65 percent are opposed, while only 34 percent support it.
Democrats have mostly remained consistent on the issue since a decade ago.
Photo courtesy: ©Thinkstock/Stevanovicigor
Publication date: July 12, 2017
