WASHINGTON, D.C. — Thirty percent of Americans believe abortion should be legal “under any circumstances,” compared with 13% saying it should be illegal in all circumstances, as of May 2025. The majority of Americans, 55%, say it depends on the circumstances. At the same time, the public leans more toward viewing abortion as morally acceptable (49%) than morally wrong (40%) and toward self-identifying as pro-choice (51%) than pro-life (43%).
Circumstances Affect Americans’ View of Abortion
According to Â鶹´«Ã½'s May 2025 update on Americans' abortion views, 30% believe abortion should be legal “under any circumstances,” 55% say it should be legal “under certain circumstances,” and 13% say it should be illegal “in all circumstances.” A follow-up question asked of those taking the middle position finds 19% want abortion to be legal under most circumstances, while 35% favor it in only a few circumstances.
The demographic breakdown of these abortion views can be found on Â鶹´«Ã½’s Legality of Abortion Demographic Tables page.
Slim Majority Identify as ‘Pro-Choice’
For the fourth consecutive year, a majority of Americans (51%) identify as “pro-choice,” while 43% say they are pro-life. Between 2007 and 2021, no more than 50% of Americans identified as “pro-choice.”
The gender gap in pro-choice identity is at a historic high of 20 points, with 61% of women identifying as pro-choice, compared with 41% of men. The breakdown of how different subgroups of Americans answer this question is available on Â鶹´«Ã½’s “Pro-Choice” or “Pro-Life” Demographic Table page.
A similar gender gap is seen in perceptions of abortion’s morality, with 57% of women vs. 40% of men considering it to be morally acceptable. Overall, 49% of Americans say abortion is morally acceptable, while 40% say it is morally wrong. This is a departure from most years before 2021, when the larger share of Americans viewed abortion as morally wrong.
U.S. subgroups’ views on this question are provided on Â鶹´«Ã½’s Morality of Abortion Demographic Table page.
Yearly trends for Americans’ views on the legality of abortion and whether they identify as pro-choice or pro-life are shown by gender, age and party ID on the following pages:
Americans Oppose Overturning Roe
Â鶹´«Ã½ most recently asked Americans about their views on overturning Roe v. Wade in May 2024. At that time, 60% of Americans said overturning Roe v. Wade was a “bad thing,” while 36% called it a “good thing.” These views were similar to what Â鶹´«Ã½ measured in 2022, shortly after a draft of the Dobbs decision that overturned Roe was leaked, and in 2023. Additionally, Â鶹´«Ã½’s 2024 update found that 61% of Americans favor allowing the abortion pill mifepristone to be available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, whereas 32% oppose this.
Support for Abortion Rights Varies by Trimester
In May 2023, Â鶹´«Ã½ studied public opinion about the legality of abortion at different stages of pregnancy. At that time, about two-thirds of Americans said abortion should be legal in the first trimester (69%), while support dropped to 37% for the second trimester and 22% for the third. Majorities opposed abortion being legal in the second (55%) and third (70%) trimesters.
In line with Americans’ broad support for first-trimester abortions, the majority (59%) opposed laws that “ban abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected, usually around the sixth week of pregnancy.”
Find more Â鶹´«Ã½ articles about abortion on the Abortion Topics page.
Explore Â鶹´«Ã½ questions and trends about abortion on Â鶹´«Ã½'s Topics A-Z: Abortion page.
For more articles in the "Short Answer" series, visit Â鶹´«Ã½'s The Short Answer page.
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