Legality of Abortion, 2018-2019 Demographic Tables

The following tables provide the demographic breakdown of Americans' broad views about the legality of abortion, based on Gallup's May 2018 and 2019 Values and Beliefs polls.

• The first table for each year displays each group's views on whether abortion should be "legal under any circumstances," "legal only under certain circumstances" or "illegal in all circumstances."
• The second table for each year details these views further according to a follow-up question asked of those who say abortion should be legal only under certain circumstances. This specifies whether they think abortion should be legal "in most circumstances" or "only in a few circumstances."

	Legal under any	Legal under certain	Illegal in all	No opinion	Number of interviews
	%	%	%	%	n
Gender
Men	25	56	18	1	529
Women	24	50	24	2	480
Age I
18 to 29	36	47	16	1	144
30 to 49	24	54	21	1	263
50 to 64	22	54	23	1	279
65 and older	18	55	23	4	302
Age II
18 to 34	32	52	15	1	206
35 to 54	23	54	22	1	287
55 and older	21	52	24	2	495
Education I
No college	20	48	29	2	235
Some college	21	58	20	1	339
College graduate only	32	54	13	1	255
Postgraduate	36	52	10	2	176
Education II
Total college graduate	33	53	12	2	431
Not college graduate	20	52	25	2	574
Yearly household income
Less than $40,000	18	50	30	2	248
$40,000 to $99,999	26	54	19	2	401
$100,000 or more	33	54	12	1	276
Race/Ethnicity
Non-Hispanic white	25	54	19	2	728
Total Hispanic or nonwhite	24	50	25	1	260
Ideology
Conservative	11	53	35	2	391
Moderate	22	61	16	2	341
Liberal	52	39	8	1	252
Party ID
Republican	12	55	32	1	340
Independent	24	56	18	2	352
Democrat	39	45	14	2	299
Leaned party ID
Republican/Lean Republican	13	60	26	1	484
Democrat/Lean Democratic	38	45	15	2	437
Attend religious services
Weekly	12	47	39	2	260
Nearly weekly/Monthly	14	54	30	1	256
Seldom/Never	36	55	8	2	488
Region
East	30	55	13	1	212
Midwest	25	52	22	2	212
South	19	53	25	2	345
West	28	50	21	1	240
Gallup, May 1-12, 2019

	Legal under any	Legal in most	Legal in only a few	Illegal in all	Legal-unspecified/No opinion	Number of interviews
	%	%	%	%	%	n
Gender
Men	25	16	40	18	1	529
Women	24	11	38	24	4	480
Age I
18 to 29	36	16	31	17	1	144
30 to 49	24	12	41	21	1	263
50 to 64	22	12	41	23	2	279
65 and older	18	14	40	23	5	302
Age II
18 to 34	32	17	35	15	1	206
35 to 54	23	12	42	22	1	287
55 and older	21	12	39	24	4	495
Education I
Postgraduate	36	18	33	10	3	176
College graduate only	32	18	34	13	3	255
Some college	21	15	42	20	2	339
No college	20	7	41	29	2	235
Education II
Total college graduate	33	18	34	12	4	431
Not college graduate	20	11	41	25	2	574
Yearly household income
$100,000 or more	33	16	36	12	2	276
$40,000 to $99,999	26	15	39	19	2	401
Less than $40,000	18	10	40	30	2	248
Race/Ethnicity
Non-Hispanic white	25	14	39	19	3	728
Total Hispanic or nonwhite	24	11	38	25	1	260
Ideology
Conservative	11	6	46	35	2	391
Moderate	22	17	42	16	3	341
Liberal	52	18	21	8	2	252
Party ID
Republican	12	8	47	32	2	340
Independent	24	16	39	18	3	352
Democrat	39	15	29	14	3	299
Leaned party ID
Republican/Lean Republican	13	10	49	26	2	484
Democrat/Lean Democratic	38	16	28	15	3	437
Attend religious services
Weekly	12	5	42	39	2	260
Nearly weekly/Monthly	14	13	40	30	3	256
Seldom/Never	36	17	37	8	3	488
Region
East	30	14	41	13	2	212
Midwest	25	11	39	22	2	212
South	19	12	41	25	3	345
West	28	16	33	21	3	240
Gallup, May 1-12, 2019

	Legal under any	Legal only under certain	Illegal in all	No opinion	Number of interviews
	%	%	%	%	n
U.S. adults	29	50	18	2	1,024
Gender
Men	27	54	17	1	552
Women	31	46	20	3	472
Age I
18 to 29	37	42	19	2	166
30 to 49	30	50	18	1	275
50 to 64	25	52	19	3	264
65 and older	25	55	19	2	307
Age II
18 to 34	36	43	20	1	235
35 to 54	28	53	17	1	284
55 and older	25	53	19	3	493
Education I
Postgraduate	38	53	7	2	206
College graduate only	40	45	13	2	238
Some college	27	56	16	1	315
No college	23	47	27	3	256
Education II
Total college graduate	39	48	11	2	444
Not college graduate	25	51	22	2	571
Yearly household income
$75,000 or more	34	53	11	2	410
$30,000 to $74,999	29	50	19	1	364
Less than $30,000	24	46	30	0	153
Race/Ethnicity
Non-Hispanic white	29	54	16	1	753
Total Hispanic/Nonwhite	31	42	24	3	244
Ideology
Conservative	14	57	28	2	383
Moderate	31	52	16	1	353
Liberal	51	38	10	1	257
Party ID
Republican	11	61	27	1	303
Independent	30	50	18	3	423
Democrat	46	40	11	2	282
Leaned party ID
Republican/Lean Republican	14	61	25	1	475
Democrat/Lean Democratic	44	43	11	2	444
Religion
Protestant/Christian	25	51	22	3	531
Catholic	22	53	22	3	200
None/Atheist/Agnostic	47	48	5	*	165
Attend religious services
Weekly	20	37	40	3	222
Nearly weekly/Monthly	21	55	22	2	284
Seldom/Never	37	53	9	1	512
Region
East	37	47	12	4	193
Midwest	26	54	17	3	213
South	22	49	28	1	362
West	36	51	12	1	256
* Less than 0.5%
Gallup, May 1-10, 2018

	Legal under any	Legal in most	Legal in only a few	Illegal in all	Legal-unspecified/No opinion	Number of interviews
	%	%	%	%	%	n
U.S. adults	29	14	35	18	3	1024
Gender
Men	27	15	39	17	2	552
Women	31	14	32	20	3	472
Age I
18 to 29	37	13	29	19	2	166
30 to 49	30	16	33	18	2	275
50 to 64	25	12	39	19	3	264
65 and older	25	14	41	19	3	307
Age II
18 to 34	36	13	29	20	1	235
35 to 54	28	15	38	17	2	284
55 and older	25	14	38	19	3	493
Education I
Postgraduate	38	26	26	7	3	206
College graduate only	40	13	32	13	2	238
Some college	27	14	42	16	2	315
No college	23	11	36	27	3	256
Education II
Total college graduate	39	19	29	11	3	444
Not college graduate	27	15	38	18	3	571
Yearly household income
$75,000 or more	34	19	34	11	3	410
$30,000 to $74,999	29	15	35	19	1	364
Less than $30,000	24	5	40	30	1	153
Race/Ethnicity
Non-Hispanic white	29	16	38	16	2	753
Total Hispanic/Nonwhite	31	11	30	24	4	244
Ideology
Conservative	14	8	48	28	2	383
Moderate	31	16	34	16	2	353
Liberal	51	20	17	10	1	257
Party ID
Republican	11	8	53	27	1	303
Independent	30	15	33	18	4	417
Democrat	46	18	22	11	2	282
Leaned Party ID
Republican/Lean Republican	14	12	48	25	2	475
Democrat/Lean Democratic	44	18	24	11	2	444
Religion
Protestant/Christian	25	10	40	22	4	531
Catholic	22	16	37	22	3	200
None/Atheist/Agnostic	47	21	26	5	1	165
Attend religious services
Weekly	20	4	33	40	3	222
Nearly weekly/Monthly	21	12	41	22	3	284
Seldom/Never	37	19	33	9	1	512
Region
East	37	17	29	12	5	193
Midwest	26	11	43	17	4	213
South	22	10	38	28	1	362
West	36	21	29	12	1	256
Gallup, May 1-10, 2018

Gallup measures Americans' attitudes on abortion each May as part of its Values and Beliefs poll -- one of 12 surveys that make up the Gallup Poll Social Series.

The full trend on this question among U.S. adults is available on the Gallup Abortion A-Z page.

Explore Gallup's curated archive of data and analysis on abortion on the Abortion Topics page.