How religion impacts Americans’ views on abortion
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Views about abortion highly correlate with frequency of religious service attendance, according to new Pew Research Center data provided to Axios.
Why it matters: The leaked draft Supreme Court decision that would overturn Roe v. Wade has raised questions about the social and political fallout it will create, including among those whose faith does — or does not — express a view about abortion.
- About one-third of U.S. adults say religion played a "very" or "extremely" important role in shaping their abortion views.
By the numbers: 30% of adults who attend religious service weekly or more frequently say abortion should be legal either in all cases or in most cases — compared with 76% of adults who seldom or never attend religious services.
- Views of those who attend religious services monthly or a few times a year fell in between.
- Meanwhile, 22% of adults who attend services at least weekly said abortion should always be illegal, with no exceptions — compared with 8% of all U.S. adults and 3% of adults who rarely or never attend services.
Methodology: Pew Research Center conducted this study to examine the U.S. public's attitudes about abortion. The center surveyed 10,441 U.S. adults from March 7-13, 2022.
