Most Americans Oppose Most Abortion.

Editor's Note: An abbreviated version of the following appeared in USA Today on January 22.

Some have argued that the majority of Americans want abortions to be as widely available as they are today--as long as they are restricted in some ways. That's inaccurate. What most people really want is to prevent the vast majority of abortions.

It is true that there is substantial majority support for the types of regulations that will be debated in Congress and state legislatures this year. These include banning partial-birth abortion, enforcing laws requiring parental involvement before a minor daughter's abortion, and providing women sufficient information to make an informed decision before an abortion.

That, however, is not the end of the story. A majority also oppose the core effect of the 1973 Supreme Court Roe v. Wade decision and recent national polling confirms it.

The effect of Roe has been abortion for any reason--even as a method of birth control--on healthy babies with healthy mothers, who became pregnant through consensual relations. Such abortions account for over 90% of those performed annually. A majority believe this should not be allowed.

A nationwide Zogby poll last November found that 61% thought abortion should never be allowed or allowed only in cases of rape, incest, or to protect the mother's life. Only 36% thought abortion should be allowed for other reasons or always.

This was followed by a nationwide Wirthlin poll last December in which 62% felt that abortion should never be legal or legal only in cases of rape, incest, or to protect the mother's life. Only 35% thought abortion should be always legal, and almost two-thirds of these, 22%, would limit it to the first three months of pregnancy.