More than half of Americans favor curtailing abortions, Gallup poll reveals

A new Gallup survey has found that more than half of Americans want abortion to be illegal or legal only in few circumstances.

The findings of the poll, released by Gallup last week, indicated that 54 percent of Americans favor curtailing abortion rights, while 42 percent want access to abortion to be unrestricted or legal in most circumstances.

The latest poll results reflect the findings of past Gallup surveys, which indicated that roughly half or just over half of Americans oppose all or almost all abortions.

The new survey also revealed that only 29 percent believe that abortion should be legal in all circumstances.

Other findings appeared to validate the notion that more Americans are pro-life, with 49 percent saying abortion is morally wrong and 43 percent saying it is morally acceptable. Gallup noted that this has been the case in most readings since it started tracking the issue annually in 2001. However, just 46 percent of the respondents identified themselves as pro-life, while 49 percent identified themselves as pro-choice.

Among women, 52 percent identified themselves as pro-choice, while 43 said they are pro-life. Thirty-three percent of the female respondents say that abortion should be legal in all circumstances, while 46 percent said it should be legal only in certain circumstances.

As many as 49 percent of women consider abortion to be morally wrong, while 43 percent believe that it is morally acceptable.

Forty-five percent of the male respondents identified themselves as pro-choice and 48 percent said they are pro-life. Twenty-four percent said that abortion should be legal in all circumstances while 55 percent said that the procedure should only be legal in certain circumstances.

A total of 43 percent of men says that abortion is morally acceptable, while 48 percent consider the procedure to be morally wrong. An equal number of men and women (18 percent) say that all abortions should be illegal.

Gallup asserted that the poll results indicate that there is no consensus among Americans for making abortion completely legal or illegal. The polling organization also noted that the findings help explain how several states are able to pass laws limiting abortions and also sheds light on how citizens can shift from electing a pro-choice president in Barack Obama to supporting an avowed pro-life candidate in Donald Trump.