I was sifting through some polling data on abortion today, and the trends are striking. Because they don't exist. In 1975, 21% of Americans wanted abortion always legal, 54% wanted it sometimes legal, and 22% wanted it outlawed. In 1980, the numbers were 25%, 53%, and 18%. In 1990, it ticked upwards to 31%, 53%, and 12%. In 1996, it settled back down to 24%, 52%, and 17%. In 2000, it was 28%, 51%, annd 19%. Today, it's 24%, 55%, and 20%. That means during the last 30 years, the number of Americans wanting abortions always legal has remained between 22% and 24%, with one 31% outlier. The number wanting it sometimes legal stayed between 51% and 55%, and those wanting it banned have swung between 17% and 22%, with one 12% outlier.
So despite all the attacks on Roe, all the hysterical condemnations of abortion, all the articles on the rise of the antichoice movement, and all the elections supposedly decided on "moral values", Americans have stayed in exactly the same spot regarding choice. This isn't a trick-of-the-light majority, it's enduring. All the Christian Right has been able to do is achieve unheard of mobilization among the antichoice minority. If they ever succeeded in their quest, that'd be the end of their party. The American public knows what it thinks on this issue, and the closer Republicans get to legislating in the opposite direction, the more danger they're in.
