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by Elizabeth Ela

A nationwide poll found more consensus than division over abortion, with 71 percent of self-described pro-choice voters favoring restrictions on abortion and 84 percent of Americans overall saying likewise. Catholic support of abortion limitations – particularly among practicing Catholics – was even higher. 

The poll, entitled “Moral Issues and Catholic Voters,” was commissioned by the Knights of Columbus and conducted by the Marist College Institute of Public Opinion. The findings also illuminated the differences between Catholic voters who practice their faith on a regular basis and those who don’t, particularly on the issue of abortion – always a hot topic in terms of winning the so-called “Catholic vote” in an election.

Supreme Knight Carl Anderson spoke in Rome on the poll's findings.

Like the American electorate, Catholics as a whole were divided when identifying themselves as pro-life and pro-choice, though the majority of practicing Catholics – 59 percent – said they were pro-life. 65 percent of non-practicing Catholics, however, call themselves pro-choice. 

Among Catholics, 92 percent of practicing Catholics favored limitations on abortion, and 89 percent of Catholics overall said likewise.

The results challenge the impression of a “monolithic” Catholic voting bloc, as practicing and non-practicing Catholics differed not only on abortion, but also other issues such as traditional marriage, the death penalty and civil unions.

Stressing this point at a press conference today, Carl Anderson, Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus, said discussion of Catholics’ voting patterns need to be viewed in the two distinct categories of church attending and non-practicing Catholics.

Anderson added, “I would certainly encourage pollsters, reporters and commentators to take this distinction into consideration when reporting on Catholics.”

The survey found that practicing Catholics – defined in the poll as those who attend a religious service once or twice a month – make up 65 percent of American Catholics overall.

Another major finding of the poll revealed that a high number of Americans are in favor of limiting abortion, regardless of whether those surveyed labeled themselves as pro-life or pro-choice.

For example, while 50 percent of Americans identified themselves as pro-choice, 71 percent of them said abortion should be significantly restricted. 76 percent of pro-choice, non-practicing Catholics likewise agreed that abortion should be significant restricted.

Only eight percent of American voters overall said they favored allowing an abortion at any time during pregnancy.

Anderson particularly stressed these findings in his statement about the poll.

“This data makes clear that labels like ‘pro-choice’ are obsolete if our intention is to accurately assess the views of the American public,” Anderson said.

He went on to call the use of the term “pro-choice” a “particularly polarizing designation” that “hides what our polling data suggests is a broad consensus among the American people.”

“Despite 35 years of unrestricted abortion following the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade, our polling data reveals that the American people – when given the chance to specify the circumstances in which abortion ought to be legal, overwhelmingly do not support the central holding of Roe v. Wade,” Anderson said. 

Of note, the study found that non-practicing Catholics are more likely to be pro-choice than the general American population, with 65 percent of non-practicing Catholics considering themselves to be pro-choice versus 50 percent of Americans saying the same thing.

In turn, 82 percent of practicing Catholics said they wanted a candidate who maintained that life begins at conception. 71 percent of American voters agreed.

The poll also struck at a “national mood” of those surveyed, saying “Catholics and non-Catholics agree the country needs a moral makeover.” Over 70 percent of Americans said the nation’s moral compass is pointing in the wrong direction, and a similar proportion of Catholics – practicing and non-practicing – agreed.

Anderson highlighted this finding and referenced current financial troubles as a sign of the country’s wayward morals.

“American are looking for better moral values and a higher moral standard in our country,” Anderson said. “(They) believe the country is suffering from a crisis of character, and I would venture to say that nowhere is this clearer than in a financial crisis in which no one seems willing to accept responsibility and everyone seems willing to assign blame.”

Also of note in the study’s findings:
 
• There is vast, national support for parental notification of a minor’s abortion, a ballot issue this November in California. 77 percent of Americans support parental notification.
• 70 percent of Americans do not support same-sex marriage, though 32 percent of that number favor civil unions. 68 percent of Catholics – including 75 percent of practicing Catholics – do not support same-sex marriage.
• 70 percent of the general electorate would support a candidate who would uphold marriage only as between a man and a woman.
• Both Catholic and non-Catholic voters said they would “definitely vote” for a candidate who would uphold religious liberty and freedom of conscience.
• Of Catholic voters overall, 39 percent are Democrats, 45 percent identify themselves as moderate and only 19 percent describe themselves as liberal.

The poll was taken from September 24 to October 3, 2008. An oversample of 813 Catholics nationwide was also conducted.

More details of the poll can be found at the Knights of Columbus website, www.kofc.org.