O n the 25th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, support for abortion rights in the United States remains remarkably strong and consistent, according to a review of polling data conducted by the Feminist Majority Foundation. For the past two decades, almost every survey has found more people in favor of abortion rights than opposed. Support for abortion rights is across the board, with the majority of women and men, Democrats and Republicans, and every age and racial group believing women should have the right to decide whether or not to terminate a pregnancy. The public also strongly condemns anti-abortion violence.

For the past twenty years, Gallup has asked respondents "Do you think abortions should be legal under any circumstances, legal only under certain circumstances, or illegal in all circumstances." When those who believe abortion should be legal in all circumstances are combined with those who support legal abortion in some circumstances, the high levels of public support for legal abortion becomes clear. In 1975, 75% believed that abortion should be legal in all or certain circumstances; 82% expressed this opinion in 1998.

Meanwhile, increases in the portion of the public who believe abortion should always be illegal have been negligible. The percentage of the public that feels abortion should be "illegal in all circumstances" reached a high of 22% in 1975 and a low of 12% in 1990, immediately after the Webster decision. According to Gallup's 1998 polling, 23% support abortion under any circumstances, 59% under certain circumstances, and 17% believe abortion should be illegal in all circumstances.

"On the 25th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the media has attempted to paint the picture that abortion rights forces are losing ground. In fact, it is our opponents who have failed to gain additional support for their anti-abortion position," said Eleanor Smeal, President of the Feminist Majority Foundation. "The pro-choice majority continues to thrive and, when mobilized, is politically potent."

Polls in which the abortion issue is framed without equivocation indicate even stronger support for abortion rights. A 1996 Hart and Teeter poll, conducted for NBC News and the Wall Street Journal, showed that 58% of the public felt that "the choice of abortion should be left up to the woman and her doctor." The 1995 National Women's Equality Poll, conducted by Lou Harris and the Peter Harris Research Group for the Feminist Majority Foundation, found that 74% favored "a woman in this country having the choice to have an abortion with the advice of her doctor." Similarly, 74% opposed "an amendment to the Constitution which would outlaw all abortions." A 1998 New York Times poll showed that most people (almost 60%) felt the government should stay out of decisions on abortion, and 75% are opposed to a constitutional amendment banning abortion.

Overwhelmingly, the public also is outraged by clinic violence. Polling conducted in the midst of the mid-1980s wave of clinic bombings showed strong opposition to the use of violence in the abortion debate. Again, with the murders, shootings, and bombings in the early 1990s, public opposition to clinic violence soared, as did support for legal intervention to end clinic violence. Pollster Lou Harris argues that clinic violence has created a backlash against the anti-abortion movement with the American public which abhors these extremist tactics, fueling support for abortion rights.

While it is true that a majority of both women and men believe in legal abortion, women support abortion rights more intensely than men creating an important gender gap on this pivotal election issue. A 1996 Hart and Teeter poll found that 61% of women and 55% of men believed that the abortion decision should always be left up to the woman. And the National Women's Equality Poll found that 18% of pro-choice women would vote against a candidate solely because of their abortion stand, compared with 13% of pro-choice men.

With each increase in educational attainment, women's support for abortion rights increases. The 1996 Gallup data show that women who have completed four years of college have the highest level of support for abortion rights -- 73% were pro-choice. Women who have attended some college but less than four years were pro-choice by a margin of 59%. Of women high school graduates, only 37% were pro-choice. Conversely, men's attitudes on abortion remain stable regardless of educational attainment.

Young women are among the most dependable pro-choice allies. A January 1998 poll, conducted by pollster Harrison Hickman for the Pro-choice Public Education Project, found that almost two-thirds of young women -- 64% -- say the term "pro-choice" describes them "very well" (36%) or "somewhat well" (26%). €