More signs of a pro-life shift in public opinion.

The support for abortion on demand continues to erode. According to data collected by the Alan Guttmacher Institute, the number of abortions peaked in 1990 at about 1.6 million. A series of opinion polls by the Gallup Organization shows that the percentage of those favoring abortion to be "legal under any circumstances" first crossed the 30% mark (31%) in the same year. Only 12% of those polled wanted to make abortion "illegal in all circumstances." After 1990 the number of abortions per year began a steady decline, but the percentage of those favoring unrestricted abortion did not decline until 1996. From 1991 to 1995 approval of unrestricted abortion averaged 32.4% in ten polls. And the percentage of those wanting all abortions to be illegal in all cases averaged 14.1%.

In July 1996, around the time NRLC's campaign to ban partial-birth abortions gained momentum, support for unrestricted abortion suddenly dropped to about 25%. Another 13% wanted abortion to be "legal in most circumstances"; 43% wanted it to be "legal only in a few circumstances"; and 15% wanted abortion to be "illegal in all circumstances" (up from 12% in September 1995).

Most recently, a Gallup poll of May 5-7, 2003, demonstrated that the shift in the pro-life direction has persisted. Only 23% want abortion to be "legal in all circumstances." In addition, 15% want abortion "legal under most circumstances"; 42% want it to be "legal only in a few circumstances"; and 19% would make it "illegal in all circumstances."

In the same poll 48% of respondents label themselves "pro-choice," and 45% declare themselves to be pro-life. (A Newsweek/Princeton Survey Research Associates poll, also of May 2003, produced a similar result: 47% "pro-choice" and 48% pro-life.) In contrast, Gallup's poll of September 1995 had 56% labeling themselves "pro-choice," while only 33% were pro-life.

Additional evidence of the public's shift in the pro-life direction comes also from the polling our opponents have done. On June 24, 2003, the Center for the Advancement of Women (formerly the Center for Gender Equality), an organization headed by former Planned Parenthood president Faye Wattleton, released a study by Princeton Survey Research Associates about the attitudes of women.

Entitled "Progress and Perils: How Gender Issues Unite and Divide Women -- Part Two" (Part One dealt with data in 2001), the study produced some startling results. Of 12 listed issues, "keeping abortion legal" as a "top priority in 2003" ranks next to last (before "more girls in sports") at 41%, down from 49% in 2001 (when it was also next to last). Only 3% consider "keeping abortion legal" the most important issue for 2003. Moreover, 27% and 28% say that keeping abortion legal is a "lower priority" or "not a priority," respectively.

Regarding the legality of abortion, 30% (34% in 2001) of women hold that "abortion should generally be available to those who want it" and 17% (19% in 2001) say that "abortion should be available but under stricter limits than it is now" (emphasis added). But 34% (31% in 2001) of women say that "abortion should be against the law ...