Knights of Columbus poll finds strong support for limits on abortion, opposition to federal funding and sex selection abortions

By Dave Andrusko

On Wednesday the Knights of Columbus released its very helpful annual survey in which it found seven months after the Dobbs opinion struck down Roe v. Wade that a Majority of Americans continue to support limits on Abortion.

The poll of 1,025 adults was taken between January 6 and January 9.

The Knights of Columbus/Marist Poll shows once again that a majority of Americans support legal limits on abortion, oppose taxpayer funding of abortion, and are strongly against abortion because the child will be born with Down syndrome or because the child is the “wrong” sex.

“Nearly 7 in 10 Americans believe abortion should be limited,” says Dr. Barbara L. Carvalho, Director of the Marist Poll. “After a year of contentious public debate over the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, the results are comparable to the findings of a Knights of Columbus–Marist Poll conducted last January.”

The 2023 Knights of Columbus–Marist Poll reveals that 44% of Americans support limiting abortion to, at most, life of mother, rape and incest cases. The poll found that only 21% percent of Americans thought abortion should be legal at any time during pregnancy.

This survey, conducted by the Marist Poll and commissioned annually by the Knights of Columbus, “also found that 91% of Americans support pregnancy resource centers, which offer support to mothers both during their pregnancy and after their baby is born.”

This support shows the public is able to filter out hostility directed at pregnancy resource centers. And the question specifically said these women helping centers “do not perform abortion.”

To the question, “Do you strongly support, support, oppose, or strongly oppose using tax dollars to pay for a woman’s abortion,” 60% oppose! A whopping 78% oppose using tax dollars to support abortion in other countries.

• A majority of Americans — 60% — are opposed to abortion if the child will be born with Down syndrome.

• 77% of Americans believe doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals with religious objections to abortions should not be legally required to perform them.

• 94% oppose sex-selection abortion.

The question that is most intriguing: 90% of Americans believe “It is possible to have laws which protect both the health and well-being of a woman and the life of the unborn.”

Knights of Columbus Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly said, “Too often, the abortion debate is framed in the context of supporting either [the mother or the unborn child]. The reality is, we can — and must — craft laws that protect both mothers and their children.”