Fewer Americans View Birth Control and Out-of-Wedlock Births as Morally Acceptable
A Gallup poll shows the share of Americans who consider birth control morally acceptable fell to 83 percent this year from 90 percent last year. The share who view having a baby outside marriage as morally acceptable dropped to 58 percent from 70 percent.
theyeshivaworld.comA new Gallup poll found that smaller shares of Americans now consider birth control, having a baby outside marriage, and gambling morally acceptable compared with last year. The share who said birth control is morally acceptable reached 83 percent, down from 90 percent last year and the lowest level recorded since the question was first asked in 2012.
The share who said having a baby outside marriage is morally acceptable fell to 58 percent from 70 percent in 2022 and 2023.
Shifts by group Gallup senior editor Megan Brenan said the changes on birth control and out-of-wedlock births were driven largely by independents. She said the numbers could reflect movement toward moderation or the start of a longer trend. Americans who said gambling is morally acceptable also reached a new low.
An earlier Ipsos poll found that Americans tend to view prediction-market trading as gambling rather than investing.
Partisan differences Majorities still described birth control, out-of-wedlock births, and gambling as morally acceptable. Eight other behaviors received majority disapproval: sex between teenagers, extramarital affairs, cloning humans, polygamy, suicide, cloning animals, pornography, and changing one's gender.
The poll showed partisan gaps on several issues. Democrats were more likely than Republicans to say abortion and changing one's gender are morally acceptable. Republicans were more likely to say the death penalty, wearing fur, and medical testing on animals are morally acceptable.
The survey was conducted by telephone May 1-17 among 1,001 adults nationwide. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 4 percentage points.
