The polls vs. politicians

Richard A. Sokerka

A new poll released on the eve of the annual March for Life finds that millennials, the largest group of American voters, are not in lock step with politicians on abortion on demand and their support of Roe v. Wade.

Long considered a top issue for the younger generation, a Students for Life poll found that millennials are equally divided, 39 percent to 39 percent, in their support and opposition to abortion.

What’s more, 41 percent said they want Roe v. Wade overturned and 70 percent said they support limits, such as parental notification, blocking abortions at five months of pregnancy, and ending government funding of Planned Parenthood.

And the Marist Poll found that overwhelming majorities of people, even those who identify as “pro-choice” support major restrictions on abortion. The poll also found only a minority support for late-term abortion.

Only 25 percent of those who identified themselves as “pro-choice” said they believed abortion should be available to a woman at any time during a pregnancy, the current law in the United States. Conversely, 42 percent of pro-choice respondents said that they believed abortion should only be legal during the first trimester of pregnancy. When specifically asked if abortion should be banned after 20-weeks gestation, when the child in the womb is capable of feeling pain, nearly 60 percent of respondents said they would strongly support a ban. Three out of four people surveyed said that they were opposed or strongly opposed to the use of public money to pay for abortion abroad, and 54 percent said they were opposed to tax dollars being used to pay for abortions.

Despite what these polls state, the governors of New Jersey and New York have turned their backs on the innocent children in the womb.

Here in New Jersey, one of the first items on Gov. Phil Murphy’s agenda was to fully fund Planned Parenthood after his predecessor, Gov. Chris Christie, had defunded it during his eight-year term.

Nationwide, abortion performed at Planned Parenthood clinics increased to 332,757 in the latest reported year, as the company’s new president, Dr. Leana Wen, called abortion a “human right.”

Things are even more dire for the child in the womb in New York, where Gov. Andrew Cuomo, on the 46th anniversary of Roe v. Wade on Jan. 22, signed legislation that codified into law the finding of Roe v. Wade, meaning that abortion would remain legal in New York even if the case were to be overturned by the Supreme Court. Cuomo said that this bill is historic because he believes it will stand in opposition to President Donald Trump’s pro-life positions.

While the law officially limits abortion to the first 24-weeks gestation, abortion is permitted at a later gestational age for reasons related to the well-being of the mother. Additionally, the bill removes the act of abortion from the criminal code, and instead places it in the public-health code, and strips most safeguards and regulations on the procedure. Non-doctors will now be permitted to perform abortions.

Both of these governors, whose parents named them after two of Christ’s apostles, often reference their upbringing in the Catholic faith. But sadly their actions in supporting abortion rights so stringently are completely contrary to the teachings of the Church and out of touch with their constituents in recent polls.