NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)–American teenagers are more pro-life than the general adult population, a new survey by Gallup shows.
The survey of 517 teens ages 13-17 found that on every abortion-related question they are more conservative when compared to all adults in a separate Gallup poll.
Thirty-two percent of teens, but only 17 percent of all adults, said that abortion should be illegal in all circumstances. Forty-seven percent of teens, compared to 55 percent of all adults, said abortion should be legal only under certain circumstances. Additionally, 19 percent of teens and 26 percent of adults said abortion should be legal in all circumstances.
The findings mirror other research of recent years showing that teens are more pro-life than other adults.
Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, said such findings are an “encouraging sign” that eventually will lead to “victory” for the pro-life cause.
“We’re winning the struggle for hearts and minds,” he told Baptist Press. “… The young people are more conservative than their parents.”
Land said he believes teens are “mildly to moderately shocked at the attitudes and actions of their parents and grandparents.”
Just as encouraging to pro-lifers, 72 percent of the teens in the survey said they believe abortion is “morally wrong.” Twenty-six percent said it was “morally acceptable.”
The August survey, released Nov. 18, was conducted through an Internet methodology using an online research panel that Gallup says is “designed to be representative of the entire U.S. population.”
While polls show that teens are more pro-life than the general population, they also show that teens are more liberal on the issue of same-sex “marriage.” For instance, a Gallup poll this summer found that while 55 percent of adults opposed same-sex “marriage,” 61 percent of adults ages 18-29 supported it.
Education is needed on the issue of marriage, Land said.
“We have just begun to fight on that issue,” he said. “We haven’t been engaged as long on that issue. I think that’s more a question of the success of mandatory sex ed programs and MTV and pop culture. We need to address our young people with remedial education on what the Bible says about homosexuality and homosexual ‘marriage.'”
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