Religion & Abortion

How do Republicans who support legal abortion and Democrats who oppose it differ from their fellow partisans? One difference involves religion.

A majority of U.S. adults say abortion should be legal in all or most cases; 37% think abortion should be illegal in all or most cases.

About three-quarters of U.S. Catholics (76%) say abortion should be illegal in some cases but legal in others.

Abortion has long been a contentious issue in the United States, and it is one that sharply divides Americans along partisan, ideological and religious lines.

Public attitudes about the legality of abortion are largely divided along partisan lines – and to a greater extent than in past decades.

A majority of Americans say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, but many are open to restrictions; many opponents of legal abortion say it should be legal in some circumstances.

Most Black Catholic churchgoers are racial minorities in their congregations, unlike White and Hispanic Catholics – and Black Protestants

Pew Research Center’s political typology sorts Americans into cohesive, like-minded groups based on their values, beliefs, and views about politics and the political system. Use this tool to compare the groups on some key topics and their demographics.

Here are some recent survey findings about Joe Biden, the pope, the debate over whether the president should receive Communion, and more.

Joe Biden is just the second Catholic president in U.S. history, after John F. Kennedy. Most U.S. adults know that Biden is Catholic, including majorities within both major political parties, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.