More than 80 percent of Americans are in favor of pregnancy help centers and their life-affirming work, according to a recently released poll.
The Knights of Columbus published the annual Marist Poll results on January 17, revealing that a majority of Americans support the work of pregnancy help centers, are in favor of legal restrictions on abortion, and believe that religious convictions should protect professionals from being mandated to commit abortions.
The survey of citizen opinions on abortion-related questions is commissioned each year by the Knights of Columbus and conducted by the Marist Institute for Public Opinion, which is part of Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York. The 2024 report was based on responses from 1,371 American adults who were surveyed on January 8 and 9.
According to the results, 83% of Americans “strongly support” pregnancy resources centers, which the survey described as “places that do not perform abortions but instead offer support to people during their pregnancy and after the baby is born.” Only 16% replied that they “strongly oppose” these pro-life organizations.
[Click here to subscribe to Pregnancy Help News!]
“Pregnancy help centers, for more than 50 years, have been helping women at risk for abortion find compassionate, life-affirming alternatives,” Jor-El Godsey, president of Heartbeat International, told Pregnancy Help News. “Along with powerful tools like ultrasound machines is the simple, yet profound, affirmation of support that helps a woman to choose life for herself and her baby.”
“Americans agree that every woman should be loved and supported in her pregnancy,” he added.
Tweet This: Pregnancy help centers, for more than 50 years, have been helping women at risk for abortion find compassionate, life-affirming alternatives
Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus Patrick Kelly also praised the support of pregnancy help centers in a press release announcing the Marist Poll results. He noted the “overwhelming majority” of Americans who expressed support for life-affirming alternatives to abortion, as shown in the survey.
“I’m very proud that our Knights across the U.S. and Canada have raised more than $7 million to support these vital centers through ASAP, or Aid and Support After Pregnancy program,” Kelly said.
He specified that the religious organization has financially supported the purchase of more than 1,790 ultrasounds which have enabled “an estimated 1.5 million mothers to see their unborn babies.”
Survey participants also showed wide support for placing restrictions on abortion even when legal, with 66% in favor of limiting abortion and 33% in favor of unrestricted abortion on demand.
Twenty-two percent of the survey participants believe that abortion “should be allowed only in cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother,” falling slightly under the 29% who support unrestricted abortion on demand. An additional 18% believe abortion should only be legal “during the first three months of a pregnancy” compared to the 13% who favor abortion up to six months.
Additionally, 66% of Americans believe medical professionals “should not be legally required” to commit abortions if they “have religious objections to abortion but practice where abortion is legal.” Conversely, 33% say that they should be required to participate in abortions regardless of contradicting religious convictions.
Regarding chemical abortions, 61% of Americans are in favor of requiring “an in-person visit with a healthcare professional” to receive a prescription for abortion pills while 38% are not. 86% of Americans expressed confidence that laws surrounding abortion can “protect both the health and well-being of a woman and the life of the unborn” and 13% said that “laws must choose” between the mother and child.
The 2024 Marist Poll results remain consistent with previous surveys conducted after the historic overturning of Roe v. Wade in June 2022. A Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America survey conducted by Tarrance Group and released in June 2023 found that 76% of all poll participants—including 77% of women—expressed support for pregnancy help centers as an alternative to abortion.
Additionally, 77% of Americans surveyed agree that preborn babies feel pain at 15 weeks gestation and that abortions should not be committed beyond this point.
Editor's note: Heartbeat International manages Pregnancy Help News.
