A growing number of Americans call themselves ‘pro-choice’ – but what’s really behind it?
In a recent op-ed for Reason Magazine, author Elizabeth Nolan Brown argued that since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, more Americans have begun to consider themselves “pro-choice."
The reasoning behind this change of heart is that they have been bombarded with emotional stories that exploit tragic and difficult pregnancy complications or prenatal diagnoses under the false impression that those situations require abortion. They don’t.
Brown explained that she went on the lookout for people who may “personally oppose abortion,” who also do not want to “ban” it. People like Audra Worlow.
“Audra Worlow thinks of herself as pro-life,” wrote Brown. “A 32-year-old, married stay-at-home mom in Ohio, Worlow takes her Catholic faith seriously. She’s against both in vitro fertilization (IVF), which she calls ‘another form of eugenics,’ and surrogacy. She thinks abortion is not only harmful to babies but also ‘psychologically damaging to women.”
However, she doesn’t believe outlawing abortion is the right way to go about ending it. She’s not alone. Brown wrote, “[A] strange thing happened in the aftermath of the pro-life movement’s great victory [in overturning Roe]: America became more pro-choice.”
Abortion polling
As proof, Brown cites a Pew Research Center poll from May 2024, which said 54% of Americans agree with the statement that “the decision about whether to have an abortion should belong solely to the pregnant woman.” However, those who believe abortion “should be legal in all cases” accounted for just 25% of those polled, while those who think abortion “should be illegal in all cases” accounted for 8% of those polled.
Meanwhile, a Reuters/Ipsos poll from the same month asked more precise questions about the availability of abortion — and in doing so, revealed the distinction is in the details.
The poll results showed that as gestational age increases, opposition to abortion also appears to increase. While Reuters claims 57% of respondents feel abortion should be “legal in all or most cases,” as gestational age increases, more Americans become uncomfortable with the legalized killing of preborn human beings.
When asked about support or opposition to a national law allowing abortion through “viability” (defined by the poll as 24-28 weeks), just 27% of the original 57% who said abortion should be “legal in most cases” indicated support for a law allowing abortion up until 24 weeks, while 71% opposed it.
In addition, respondents who said abortion should be legal at least some of the time were asked whether or not they would support a national law allowing abortion “only in cases to save the life of the mother, rape or incest.” An astounding 74% said “yes” they would support a law allowing abortion only to save the life of the mother or in cases of rape or incest, while 24% said no, they wouldn’t support such a law.
So while Americans may consider themselves “pro-choice,” their opinions on abortion do not align with the pro-abortion politicians’ desire to allow abortion through all nine months of pregnancy.
