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Majority of Americans say abortions should be illegal after first trimester

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NEW YORK (BP) — At least 65 percent of Americans believe abortion should be illegal in most cases after the first three months of pregnancy, according to a new poll designed to be representative of the national population.

A full 80 percent of Americans believe it should be illegal in the last three months of pregnancy, said the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll released a week ago.

Along political party lines, 41 percent of Republicans said abortions should be legal in the first trimester in all or most cases, compared to 81 percent of Democrats. By the second trimester, only 11 percent of Republicans said abortions should be allowed, compared to 52 percent of Democrats.

Among born-again or evangelical Christians, 67 percent said abortions should be illegal in all or most cases, while 33 percent said abortions should be legal in all or most cases, the poll said. Included in the latter are a 10th of born-again and evangelical Christians who said abortions should be legal in all circumstances.

The Southern Baptist Convention has advocated for the sanctity of human life for decades. Most recently, messengers to the SBC 2021 Annual Meeting adopted two resolutions aimed at protecting the unborn.

A 2021 resolution, On Taxpayer Complicity In Abortion And The Hyde Amendment, denounced any attempt to rescind the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits federal funding of abortion. Another resolution, On Abolishing Abortion, advocated “abolishing abortion immediately, without exception or compromise.”

Messengers to the 2019 SBC Annual Meeting in Birmingham approved a resolution On Celebrating The Advancement Of Pro-life Legislation In State Legislatures, which also urged that Roe v. Wade be overturned. Many states have passed laws restricting abortions after fetal heartbeats can be detected, generally at six weeks, but courts have blocked their enforcement.

In 2018, SBC messengers adopted a resolution On Reaffirming The Full Dignity Of Every Human Being, denouncing “every act of abortion except to save the mother’s physical life.”

The 1,125 adults surveyed in the mid-June poll were drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel designed to be representative of the U.S. population. Among other findings:

  • 43 percent of Americans believe abortion should be illegal in all or most cases, compared to 56 percent who say it should be legal in all or most cases;
  • 36 percent of Republicans said abortions should be legal in all or most cases, while 64 percent of Republicans said abortions should be illegal in all or most circumstances;
  • 76 percent of Democrats said abortions should be legal in all or most cases, while 23 percent of the category said abortion should be illegal in all or most cases.

Most U.S. states allow abortions through 20 weeks or five months of pregnancy, with 20 states only prohibiting abortions at the stage of fetal viability or about six months of pregnancy, the according to the Guttmacher Institute. In Virginia, abortions are allowed until the third trimester.

The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.2 percentage points, AP reported.