News that President Donald Trump will become the first sitting President to attend the annual anti-abortion March For Life in Washington D.C. is twinned with an interesting new Gallup poll. The study found that Americans’ dissatisfaction with current abortion laws is on the rise, with 58 percent saying they’re unhappy with the current laws. Only 32 percent of Americans say they’re satisfied with current abortion laws — a new low for the study.
The shift has been largely driven by Democrats and Independents who say they want fewer restrictions on abortion in the U.S. 31 percent of Democrats say they want to ease restrictions on abortion — a jump from the 14 percent that said the same during President George W. Bush’s administration. But Republicans who lean towards anti-abortion legislation haven’t shifted much at all.
Lydia Saad, Gallup’s Director of U.S Social Research, speculated that the shift could be driven by Trump’s hardline rhetoric and the volley of strict “heartbeat abortion bills” that were attempted in 2019. Saad thinks that the laws could have the unintended consequence of steeling against new restrictions.
According to the study, the percentage of Americans who want more abortion restrictions (24 percent) and the percentage who want fewer restrictions (22 percent) are in a statistical dead heat.
