by Lil Tuttle
A February 2019 national survey by Marist College for Public Opinion and Knights of Columbus “shows a major shift to the pro-life side among Democrats and young people,” reports CNSNews.com.
For Americans age 45 and younger, the shift was from 28% identifying as pro-life four weeks ago to 47% today; the percentage of young people who said they were “pro-choice” fell from 65% to 48%.
So, today, 47% of young people identify as pro-life vs. 48% who say they are “pro-choice.”
Marist pollsters attribute the double-digit shift in only one month to recent efforts to expand late-term abortions, one that succeeded in New York state but failed in Virginia.
“The recent legal changes to late-term abortion and the debate which followed have not gone unnoticed by the general public,” said Carvalho. “In just one month, there has been a significant increase in the proportion of Americans who see themselves as pro-life and an equally notable decline in those who describe themselves as pro-choice.”
The Marist Poll also found that overwhelming majorities of Americans ― Democrats, Republicans, and Independents ― oppose late-term abortions. Sixty percent of Democrats, 72% of Independents, and 85% of Republicans said they oppose abortion in the third trimester (after 24 weeks of pregnancy).
In addition, very strong majorities oppose abortion after 20 weeks (5 months) of pregnancy ― 59% of Democrats, 78% of Independents, and 82% of Republicans said no to such procedures.
The poll also “found that 80 percent of Americans would like abortion limited to ― at most ― the first three months of pregnancy ― an increase of five points since just last month.”
This includes 65 percent of those who identified as pro-choice, as well as strong majorities of Democrats (64 percent), Republicans (92 percent) and independents (83 percent).
U.S. Senate Fails to Pass Anti-Infanticide Legislation
Despite the public backlash, the U.S. Senate failed on Monday, Feb 25, to pass “an anti-infanticide bill introduced by Senator Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act.” According to LiveAction’s report,
The legislation needed 60 votes to pass, and it failed by a vote of 53 in favor and 44 against. The bill stated that “if an abortion results in the live birth of an infant, the infant is a legal person for all purposes under the laws of the United States, and entitled to all the protections of such laws.”
Every Democratic presidential hopeful — Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, Kirsten Gillibrand, Sherrod Brown, Amy Klobuchar, and Elizabeth Warren, along with Independent Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont — voted against this common-sense bill. Democrats Doug Jones, Joe Manchin, and Bob Casey Jr. voted in favor of the bill. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), and Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) did not vote on the bill.
