American opinion on the moral acceptability of abortion is slightly declining.
Since the early 2000s, Gallup has been tracking American opinions on the moral acceptability of 20 behaviors. This year’s poll revealed that 49% of Americans consider abortion morally acceptable — dropping from a record high of 54% in 2024.
Abortion is the second-most polarizing issue between political parties, the study found. There is a 58-percentage-point gap between Democrat and Republican opinion on abortion, with 78% of Democrats finding abortion morally acceptable and 20% of Republicans finding it morally acceptable.
American views on abortion have become more divided during the past three decades. When Gallup began tracking American views on abortion in 1995, 42% of Republicans considered themselves pro-choice, and in 2025, 16% of Republicans consider themselves pro-choice.
Also in 1995, 58% of Democrats considered themselves pro-choice, and in 2025, 83% of Democrats consider themselves pro-choice.
The only behavior the study found more polarizing among Americans is changing one’s gender, 71% of Democrats consider changing one’s gender morally acceptable and 9% of Republicans find it morally acceptable, creating a 62-percentage-point gap.
“Americans’ perspectives on the morality of most of the behaviors measured are strongly tied to their party identification, with Democrats more likely than Republicans to consider some acceptable,” the study noted.
What Americans agree on
Americans agree on more issues than they disagree on.
The majority of Americans consider using birth control (90%), divorce (75%), premarital sex (68%) and having a baby outside of marriage (67%) morally acceptable, the study found.
Americans also mostly agree on what they consider morally wrong. The study found the majority of Americans believe married men and women having an affair (89%), cloning humans (87%), polygamy (74%) and suicide (71%) morally unacceptable.
The Gallup poll said that American opinions of most behaviors on the list have “remained largely stable since last year,” with notable shifts in perception only made to abortion and changing one’s gender.
Other findings
In addition to abortion and changing one’s gender, some of the other more divided topics were medical testing on animals, 47% of Americans consider this morally acceptable, and doctor-assisted suicide, 53% of Americans believe this is morally acceptable.
Below are more American opinions on the issues tracked by Gallup.
- Gay or lesbian relations: 64% consider this morally acceptable.
- Gambling: 63% consider this morally acceptable.
- Human embryonic stem cell research: 63% consider this morally acceptable.
- Buying/wearing animal fur clothing: 61% consider this morally acceptable.
- Death penalty: 56% consider this morally acceptable.
- Sex between teenagers: 41% consider this morally acceptable.
- Pornography: 35% consider this morally acceptable.
- Cloning animals: 34% consider this morally acceptable.