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Pew Research Report: Americans’ Attitudes on Abortion Are More Divisive

The Pew Research Center released a new report highlighting recent poll and survey findings of Americans’ views on abortion based on their political affiliation and gender.

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Pew Research Report: Americans’ Attitudes on Abortion Are More Divisive
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Photo by Manny Becerra on Unsplash
Belén Dumont
By Belén DumontMar 26, 2026
Belén Dumont

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Americans’ General Attitudes on Abortion

Despite abortion being banned in 13 states and restricted in others since the Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs ruling, a 60% majority of Americans say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, according to a January Pew Research Center Poll.

Although the number of U.S. adults who say abortion should be legal has gone down from 63% in 2024, support for legal abortion remains higher than it was 30 to 20 years ago. With strong public support, at least five states have confirmed or potential abortion-related ballot measures in the 2026 election.

This slight decline in Americans’ support of abortion in recent years has occurred principally among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, while Democrats’ stance has remained more stable, according to a March Pew Research Center Report. Currently, 36% of Republicans say abortion should be legal, compared to 41% of Republicans sharing this view in 2024. At least 84% of Democrats say abortion should be legal in all or most cases since 2022.

The Center’s poll findings show that views of abortion between parties are more opposed than a few decades ago. There was a 24 percentage point gap between Democrats’ and Republicans’ stances; Today, that gap has doubled.

Chart shows Wide partisan gap in views of whether abortion should be legal

About half of Americans strongly agree with the statement, “The decision to have an abortion should belong solely to the pregnant woman,” according to the report. While 39% of U.S. adults agree with the statement, “Human life begins at conception, so an embryo is a person with rights.”

Chart shows About half of Americans say the decision to have an abortion belongs to the pregnant woman; about 4 in 10 say an embryo is a person with rights

How U.S. Adults View Medication Abortion

More than half of Americans (55%) say medication abortion should be legal in their state, according to the January Pew Research Poll. About 18% of respondents were not sure of their stance, and 26% said it should be illegal. The share of U.S. adults who said medication abortion should be illegal has grown since 2024, and the number of individuals who are unsure of their stance on the issue has declined.

The nationwide poll highlights the diversity between Democrats, Republicans, and independents. Additionally, in recent years, the number of Americans who are undecided on the issue has gone down from 25% in 2024 to 18% in 2026.

While individuals all across the political spectrum have become more divisive on the topic, this shift in attitude is largely seen among Republicans.

While the majority of Democrats and Democratic learning independents say medication abortion should be legal (76%), Republicans and Republican learning independents are more torn on the issue. About 43% of this group say it should be illegal in their state, a third (35%) say it should be legal, and 21% are unsure.

While people’s affiliated party—rather than their gender—is a greater indicator of their views on abortion, recent surveys show a growing modest gender gap in attitudes toward abortion among Republicans.

Chart shows Democrats overwhelmingly say medication abortion should be legal in their state, while Republicans are more divided

Attitude on Abortion by Gender

Most recent polls show that about two-thirds of women (64%) say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, and about half of men (55%) say abortion should be legal; While 34% of women and 44% of men say it should be illegal.

While the greatest influence on people’s views on abortion seems to be their political affiliation, gender is still a factor in people’s views, according to the report’s findings.

Within the Republican party, two-thirds of men (68%) say abortion should be illegal, compared to 58% of women who share this opinion.

However—among Democrats and Democratic leaning independents—an overwhelming, similar majority of women (85%) and men (83%) both say abortion should be legal.

According to the report, there is a difference in views among women and men, generally, on the following statement: “The decision about whether to have an abortion should belong solely to the pregnant woman.” More than half of women (58%) strongly agree with the statement, compared to 45% of men.

Within the Republican party, women (38%) are more likely than men (25%) to strongly agree with this statement. While women (74%) and men (70%) in the Democratic party similarly strongly agreed with the statement.

Chart shows Women are more likely than men to say pregnant women should be the sole deciders of whether to have an abortion

View the report in-depth at pewresearch.org

Belen Dumont is the Associated Editor of The Fulcrum.


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