American Opposition To Homosexuality Falls, But Not Opposition To Abortion

Gallup has a poll out comparing America’s shifting views on social issues. According to the overall findings, Gallup is claiming that social conservatives and social liberals are at parity for the first time since this poll began in 1999.

I could quibble with this polling by arguing that these terms are flexible . For instance, I’m a conservative who is pro-life but also thinks we should legalize gay marriage and most drugs.

Where do I fall on this scale?

Still, I do think America’s social views are shifting, and what’s fascinating is where they’re shifting. CNN had a similar poll back in January of 2014 and found that American views on things like homosexuality, unmarried cohabitation, and marijuana use had shifted toward a more positive outlook. But one place where views hadn’t shifted was abortion.

Gallup’s findings seem to back up that finding, showing that while America has seen dramatic shifts on issues like homosexuality, divorce, unmarried sex, and even polygamy they haven’t shifted really at all on abortion:

That’s remarkable given the intense focus on feminine issues, generally, and abortion specifically both in battles over state policy around the country and at the national level.

Democrats have flogged the “war on women” narrative as a way to cast those who are pro-life as out of the mainstream, but clearly pro-life views are very much the mainstream in America even as the country becomes less socially conservative in the aggregate.