Poll finds a shocking number of Catholics believe abortion should be legalized — and the trend is only getting worse

A surprising number of Catholics in the United States believe abortion should be legal.

The Catholic Church's teaching on the issue of abortion is clear. The catechism of the Catholic Church states:

Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law.

Participation in abortion, then, is a grave offense in the Catholic Church worthy of excommunication.

But according to data collected by the Pew Research Center, the majority of Catholics in the U.S. — 61% — believe that abortion should be legal, a figure that mirrors all U.S. adults.

Of that high percentage, more than one-fifth (22%) believe that abortion should be legal in all cases, while 39% said that abortion should be legal in most cases. Just 38% of Catholics believe abortion should be illegal, including 11% who think it should be legal in all cases.

Interestingly, there is a correlation between abortion views and Catholics who attend mass regularly.

Pew Research found that Catholics who attended mass on a weekly basis were much less likely to support abortion: only 34%. Catholics who attend mass on a monthly basis or never, on the other hand, were much more likely to support abortion: 68%.

The data, then, is clear: There is a connection between congruence with Christian ethics and regular participation in the faith community.

Meanwhile, the new data represents a significant shift in Catholic views in just a handful of years.

In 2018, Pew Research found that only 48% of Catholics believed that abortion should be legal. It's not immediately clear what is driving the dramatic shift toward abortion acceptance, except for the overturning of Roe v. Wade and greater cultural acceptance of abortion.

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