Majority of Pro-Choicers Would Restrict Abortion in America

WASHINGTON -- A large majority of even pro-choice people want most abortions restricted. That's just one startling headline from a new survey released at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., Tuesday.

This massive new survey on abortion restrictions hits just three days before the annual March for Life in the nation's capitol Friday.

The survey by Marist Poll and Knights of Columbus of nearly 1,700 adults shows 81 percent of Americans and 82 percent of women would restrict abortion to the first trimester.

Perhaps more surprising is that 66 percent of those who call themselves pro-choice support that restriction as well.

"And I think that that's an interesting thing to look at in terms of resetting the national debate in a way that actually deals with where people are rather than labels that don't tell the story," Andrew Walther, with the Knights of Columbus, told CBN News.

Fifity-five percent of Americans and 56 percent of women say abortion does a woman more harm than good. Even 33 percent of pro-choicers agree.

Sixty percent of Americans say abortion is morally wrong. One-third of pro-choicers agree.

"It's the reality that we never hear about," Patrick Kelly, with the Knights of Columbus, said. "And it's what this poll has shown us: that they understand what abortion is and that it is morally wrong."

As Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton and other Democrats are campaigning for taxpayer funding of abortions, the new poll reveals 68 percent of Americans oppose that, including 51 percent of self-identified pro-choicers.

While many pro-choice activists label anti-abortion efforts as a "War on women," the numbers suggest Americans don't buy it, especially women.

Seventy-seven percent of Americans say new laws can protect both a mother and her unborn child. That includes 79 percent of women and 71 percent of pro-choicers.

"The polling does show that this 'war on women' rhetoric is a mere fiction," Kelly said.

"And there's interest in having a number of limits when it comes to abortion," Marist Poll director Barbara Caravalho said. "And both people who are pro-life or who consider themselves or describe themselves as pro-choice agree on that issue."

One reason for the annual March for Life is to push for such laws to protect women and the unborn. Pro-life activists hope many Americans show up for this Friday's March.

"It does get the attention of our elected officials, even the members of the Supreme Court. They see the crowds. They know that we're there," Father Frank Pavone, with Priests for Life, pointed out. "And they're being  told in a very peaceful, loving way, we're not going away. And we're going to insist on the changes that need to be made to protect the unborn."

"For people to come together with common beliefs is awesome. Because of course we're praying to God to rid our land of the sin of abortion, but  to come together in unity," Janet Morana, the Silent No More Awareness Campaign, said. "It really encourages us so that we can go home to our highways and byways and we can continue to work all year long because we've got our batteries recharged."

"When we have the conviction inside of us that the unborn have to be protected, by expressing that conviction outward - by marching, by praying out loud, by being with large groups of people - it strengthens that conviction in us," Pavone added.

A pre-March rally starts at noon on Friday on the National Mall, with the March itself scheduled for 1 p.m.  Click here for more details.