Abortion continues to divide the country, with Americans lining up fairly evenly on either side of the issue, according to a new study by The Barna Group.

While 49% would prefer to keep abortion legal in all or most cases, 42% believe it should be made illegal in most or all instances.

However, only about one-third of the 1,000 people polled took a strong position on one side or the other. Just 15% thought that abortion should be legal in every situation, while 19% preferred that the practice be illegal in all cases.

Most others held moderate views: 57% expressed a mildly supportive or unsupportive opinion. Compared to tracking data conducted in the 1990s and early 2000s, the new research suggests that Americans are more likely these days to take a "middle ground" or a "not sure" position toward abortion.

Among evangelical Christians, 78% said they believed that the practice should be illegal in all or most cases. Non-evangelical, born-again Christians favored making abortion illegal (55% illegal versus 39% legal), as did active churchgoers (60% versus 33%) and non-mainline Protestants (58% versus 34%).

Researchers found little difference in views among born-again Christians under the age of 45 and older generations of Christians. Overall, 61% of 18- to 44-year-old born-again Christians said they wanted to see abortion be illegal in all or most cases, compared to 55% among born-again believers ages 45 and older.

Source: The Barna Group

For more information, go to http://www.barna.org/barna-update.

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