Americans Want Abortion Restrictions, Vulnerable Pro-Choice Senators Targeted and LGBTQ Acceptance Declines

Most Americans want abortion restrictions.

By Warren Cole Smith, Thursday, February 01, 2018

Cecile Richards resigned as president of Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion provider. The organization has long been a target of pro-life activism, but the scrutiny increased in 2015, when David Daleiden and the Center for Medical Progress released undercover videos tying the organization to the fetal tissue industry. The FBI is now investigating. (You can read and listen to my 2015 interview with Daleiden here.) In a statement, Penny Nance, the president of Concerned Women for America, said, "Under the leadership of Cecile Richards, Planned Parenthood has grown to push one agenda—abortion above all else—while throwing aside any inkling of actual medical care. If Planned Parenthood is serious about standing up for the women they claim to represent, they will hire someone who understands medicine and understands the facts that abortion does not help women but only inflicts harm and destruction."

Americans Want Abortion Restrictions. A poll released in January by the Marist Institute for Public Opinion and the Knights of Columbus found 76 percent of Americans, including 60 percent of those self-identifying as "pro-choice," support at least some abortion restrictions. About 60 percent oppose using tax dollars to pay for abortion, including the majority of independents and 43 percent of Democrats. It also found 56 percent of Americans believe abortion is morally wrong, and 52 percent believe that having an abortion does more harm than good in a woman's life, in the long run.

Senators Now on Record. On Monday the Senate failed to pass a bill that would have banned abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. The procedural vote fell significantly short of the 60 votes needed to advance the bill. However, the bill did put on record a number of pro-abort Democrats who must run for re-election in pro-life states. The Susan B. Anthony List, a pro-life group, immediately released a statement targeting "vulnerable Democrats who voted against the legislation include: Sens. Sherrod Brown (Ohio), Claire McCaskill (Missouri), Heidi Heitkamp (North Dakota), and Jon Tester (Montana)." Mallory Quigley, communications director of the SBA List, said, "As the polling noted below makes clear, their votes against this compassionate, consensus legislation put these Senators dramatically out of step with their constituents and the pro-life American majority."

Shifting Pendulum? A new study released by the pro-gay group GLAAD found a "significant decline in overall comfort and acceptance of LGBTQ people." According to Yahoo News, "This marks the first time in this particular study's four-year history that the numbers have declined." Harris Insights and Analytics conducted the online poll. It found that in "every single situation" the acceptance fell from the previous year. Three areas where discomfort showed a "significant increase" were "learning a family member is LGBTQ," "learning my child's teacher is LGBTQ," and "learning my doctor is LGBTQ."

Originally posted at BreakPoint.