Majority of US Hispanics Oppose Abortion and Gay ‘Marriage’: Poll

A majority of American Hispanics oppose abortion and gay “marriage,” according to a new poll carried out jointly by the Spanish-language television network Univision and the Associated Press.

The poll also found that English-speaking Hispanics were more likely to have liberal social views than their Spanish-only counterparts.

Overall, 39 percent of Hispanics said abortion should be mostly legal, while polls of the general population indicate that approximately 46-54% of Americans think abortion should be legal.

However, when American inculturation is taken into account, a gap appears.  The poll indicated that 49 percent of Hispanics who speak mostly English are in favor of maintaining the legality of abortion, while only 31 percent of those who speak mostly Spanish hold the same view.

A gap also appeared between Catholic and non-Catholic Hispanics.  Although the Catholic Church regards abortion as an “unspeakable sin” and equivalent to murder, a higher number of self-identified “Catholics” in the poll indicated that they wanted to maintain the legality of abortion,  41%, as opposed to self-identified Protestants, 26%.

The poll also indicates that Hispanic Americans also oppose same-sex “marriage.” Only 31 percent support it, and an additional 28% are in favor of allowing “civil unions.” Thirty-five percent of respondents oppose both.   However, Protestants were much more strongly against homosexual “marriage” than Catholics, again, despite the Catholic Church’s strong condemnation of all homosexual unions and homosexual acts.

The differences between Catholics and Protestants in the poll may be attributable to the more liberal attitudes that prevail in Catholic parishes in the United States, where the doctrines of the Catholic Church are often ignored or even denied with impunity.  Parishes in Latin America tend more often to uphold the Catholic Church’s social teachings on human life and sexuality.

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