Past Elections

2008 Election 2004 Election

Abortion Polls: Legal Cases for Abortion

Last Updated: 2/1/10

Where do you stand on the legality of abortion?

Some of the polls included in the average may be outdated since the latest poll for each of the pollsters are averaged in.

Pollster	Date	Always Legal	Mostly Legal	Mostly Illegal	Always Illegal
AVERAGE		20.4%	28.9%	29.4%	17.3%
Quinnipiac University	1/5-11/10	18	34	24	18
Washington Post	11/19-23/09	19	35	28	16
CNN	11/13-15/09	26	10	40	23
Pew Research	8/11-27/09	16	31	27	17
ABC News	6/18-21/09	20	35	26	17
AP GFK Poll	5/28-6/1/09	19	33	24	20
NBC	9/6-8/08	25	24	37	10

Question Wording by Pollster

Quinnipiac University

"Do you think abortion should be legal in all cases, legal in most cases, illegal in most cases or illegal in all cases?"

CNN

"Do you think abortion should be legal under any circumstances, legal under only certain circumstances, or illegal in all circumstances?" If "legal under only certain circumstances": "Do you think abortion should be legal in most circumstances or only a few circumstances?"

Pew Research

"Do you think abortion should be legal in all cases, legal in most cases, illegal in most cases, or illegal in all cases?"

ABC News

"Do you think abortion should be legal in all cases, legal in most cases, illegal in most cases, or illegal in all cases?"

AP GFK Poll

"Which comes closest to your opinion on abortion: abortion should be legal in all cases, legal in most cases, illegal in most cases, or illegal in all cases?"

NBC

"Which comes closest to your view on abortion: abortion should always be legal; should be legal most of the time; should be made illegal except in cases of rape, incest and to save the mother's life; or abortion should be made illegal without any exceptions?"

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