Washington D.C. — A new survey suggests that “large majorities” of Americans favor several types of abortion restrictions, including waiting periods, parental notification and informed consent laws. However, they are less likely to support a ban on federal funds for abortion providers or opt-out laws for pro-life pharmacists and health providers.
“We have known for some time that the American public is supportive of restrictions and understand that those restrictions are necessary to protect women and the unborn,” said Mailee Smith, staff counsel for Americans United for Life.
It was “affirming and encouraging” that Americans support some of the restrictions, she added.
A July Gallup survey of 1,020 U.S. adults asked their opinions of several abortion laws.
Eighty-seven percent favored requiring doctors to inform patients about possible risks of abortion before performing the procedure, while 71% favored requiring parental consent for women under 18 for any abortion. Sixty-nine percent favored a 24-hour waiting period before a woman has an abortion, while 64% favored a ban on “partial birth abortion,” except to save the life of the mother.
However, only 50% favored requiring that a woman be shown an ultrasound image of her unborn child at least 24 hours before an abortion. Fifty-one percent opposed a law allowing pharmacists and health providers to decline providing medicine or surgical procedures that result in abortion, while 57% opposed a prohibition on federal funds for health clinics that provide abortion services.
Conscience Protection
Smith said it was “a little discouraging” that a majority of respondents do not support conscience protections and bans on federal funding for abortion providers. She suggested more education efforts are needed in those areas.
“There is a lot of mistaken understanding and misinformation about the so-called abortion rights in political and judicial circles. There is a misunderstanding of how harmful abortion is to the woman,” she continued.
“There tends to be a general belief that women need abortion in order to advance a career or have the type of life that they want to have, and that pregnancy takes away from that.”
“Study after study after study has demonstrated that not only the physical risks of having an abortion, but the psychological risks, and the consequences involved,” she said, citing the “substantial risk” of pre-term birth in a subsequent pregnancy of a woman who has had an abortion.
There are now more abortion restrictions than there were in 1973 when the Supreme Court imposed permissive abortion laws nationwide, Smith noted.
“Contrary to the time when Roe v. Wade was decided, now 31 states now have informed consent laws in place. Thirty-seven states have parental involvement laws in place, such as parental consent or parental notification,” she said. “Thirty-eight states have fetal homicide laws, which punish as a crime the homicide of an unborn child, separate from the abortion issue.”
“As states enact these laws, the rate of abortion goes down in these states,” Smith added, noting that the abortion rate declines between 13% to 25% in a state with parental involvement restrictions.
“We see that these restrictions are having a very positive effect on the number of women who are getting the proper facts before abortion and choosing to carry their children to term.”
Gallup found a significant partisan difference in respondents. Republicans were much more likely to favor restrictions on abortion, while independents were somewhat less likely to favor such laws. Democrats were most opposed to abortion restrictions.
“The partisan breakdown would not be unexpected,” Smith said.
However, she noted that some restrictions, even the partial-birth abortion ban, were supported by a majority of Democrats.
“If the general public, if the politicians, if Republicans and Democrats and independents, understood how harmful abortion is for women, there would be more support for abortion restrictions.”
Only 35% of respondents to a June Gallup survey said abortion should be illegal in the first three months of pregnancy, a figure which rose to 71% in the second three months of pregnancy and to 86% in the last three months, a June Gallup survey said.
Edward Pentin: Images of Rome's 2013 March for Life
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My thing with abortion:
1) Hate when when say “it’s my body-i’ll do whatever I want with it”—well, sorry, it’s NOT YOUR BODY=it’s God’s; You’re pregnant and feel you have “rights” to do what you want with your body? Well, what about the rights of the child and their body that you are carrying?-Hypocrites!
2) Children SHOULD NOT be encouraged or able to get an abortion without parental or gaurdian concent. Children should not be able to make a life-altering choice like that.
3) If a woman is considering having an abortion, the woman should have to be forced to tell the man that impregnated her—That child is much as hers as it it his—The woman SHOULD NOT be able to abort it without the man’s concent.
4) Women should not be allowed to have multiple abortions. If they are that irresponsible with sex, then they should pay the price—have the child and if they do not want it, give it over for adoption.
I do not agree with abortion, but since it is unfortunatly going on, I feel laws should be put into place where the man has rights, etc. The man may want the child. The man should be able to sue and make the woman have the child and give it our the guardianship to the father….
For quite some time it has been the case that only a small minority (10-15%) support the status quo of abortion on demand for any reason throughout all 9 months of pregnancy that was established by Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton.
TRUSTING IN GOD’S WISDOM
There once was a man who proclaimed he did not believe in God. “God could never love anyone and if he existed, I would insist that he prove it to me”, he often proclaimed to friends. “God takes lives all the time and the poor and down-trodden are first on the menu”, he would say further. Even though the man was often kind to people all throughout his life, he believed that one should live life to the fullest in every way. He also believed strongly that a woman had every right to an abortion, and if she chose to do so, it was her business only.
One day the man found himself in front of an abortion clinic watching women walk in as protestors were praying and begging the pregnant women not to go in the clinic. A woman who was protesting began talking loudly to a young pregnant woman who was walking into the clinic. This immediately enraged the man and he began yelling at and cursing the woman who was protesting and others began to join in.
The young woman walking into the clinic became scared and upset at both the woman protesting and the man, and immediately turned and ran away from the clinic. This enraged the man and others even more and they escalated their yelling and insults toward the woman protestor. The woman protestor cried and left the scene.
Many, many years later the man was in a serious car accident and was thrown from the car. As he lay dying, many people consoled him as an ambulance rushed to the scene. A young priest who had also been called to the scene began to perform last rites. The man, although in terrible pain and very terrified, gruffly said to the priest, “Don’t waste your breath with that prayer, Father, I’m not a Catholic and even if I was, God has never gone out of his way to help me – take a good look”.
The priest gently smiled at the man and stopped saying the last rites. After a few seconds, the priest began to softly recite the Divine Chaplet of Mercy. “For the sake of His Sorrowful Passion, have Mercy on us and the whole world”, he recited over and over. The man peacefully passed into darkness.
Suddenly, a great light engulfed the man along with great love. The man was more afraid than ever as he knew he was in the presence of God. He asked what was happening and who it was that he was speaking to. He asked this because he could only see one form but felt there were others in the area as well.
“I am Jesus, Son of the Living God, and you have been born to a new life. We are here to judge your life on earth”. Immediately, as in a video, the man began to see his entire life in review. The good and the bad.
Many times when he helped the poor, other times when he freely partook in sins of the flesh. Times when he helped the elderly, and times when he intentionally hurt other people. The life review seemed to stop as quickly as it had started and the man felt ashamed.
Quickly, however, the man recovered, and recalled what he had said to friends during his life. “What chance did I have when my creator never showed any effort to reach out to me with love?” “Why did you not even try a little to help save me from myself?”.
The Lord looked lovingly at the man and played back the life scene in front of the abortion clinic. The man was mortified as he watched himself become enraged. He was overcome with resign and asked the Lord what happened to the woman protestor who had left the scene those many years ago.
The Lord responded, “She was called to me a few days later, she had accomplished her mission”.
“And what of the woman that decided not to have an abortion that day?”, he asked.
“She bore a healthy son and passed to me after childbirth, she had accomplished her mission”.
The man looked down and felt very sad. He slowly looked up and softly said to the Lord, “I wish I would have met her son; that I could know what he looks like and see how he turned out in life”. But, I never did, and yet you show me these images anyway.” Lord, can you not show me one instance in my life where you went out of your way even a little bit to show the extent of your love for me”?
“You met her son at the twilight of your life”, said the Lord, “He will be joining us soon – he has accomplished his mission”. “Come, let us go to heaven”.
The man felt happy, relieved, and curious all at once, and felt compelled to ask Jesus two final questions. “Who was this woman’s son and what was his mission?” , asked the man.
“He was a simple priest who believed in God’s Mercy, and you were his mission”, responded three voices.
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