Hispanics recently became the largest minority group by population in the United States. A majority are also pro-life.
According to a recent CBS-New York Times poll, forty-four percent now say abortion should not be permitted, while only 33 percent say abortion should be available, and even then under strict limits.
Another recent poll backs up this data.
In May, Latino Opinion conducted a national survey of Hispanic adults. Seventy-five percent took one of three pro-life positions opposing all or almost all abortions. They said abortion should either never be legal (27%), legal only when the life of the mother is in danger (25%), or only in cases of rape or incest or when the mother's life is in danger (23%).
The May poll also showed 59 percent of Hispanics were more likely to vote for a candidate who opposes abortion while only 26 percent were likely to vote for a candidate who favors abortion.
“One thing remains true in all poll results: Hispanic Americans are pro-life,” said Rai Rojas, the Hispanic Outreach Coordinator for the National Right to Life Committee.
“As Hispanics, most of us come from cultures where abortion is morally and legally unacceptable. This remains true for Hispanics in this country. Unfortunately, what the polls do indicate is that the longer a Hispanic is in this country, the more the pro-abortion mentality that has permeated non-Hispanic America, begins to take a foothold,” Rojas explained.
“To say that a culture of life is rooted in the Latino culture is an understatement,” the Family Research Council said in a statement regarding the poll.
The pro-life values Hispanics have is also paying dividends for pro-life candidates. In the 2004 presidential race, President Bush will likely face a pro-abortion Democratic candidate.
When Hispanic registered voters were asked whether they would vote for Bush or a Democratic candidate for president, 21 percent said Bush, 31 percent said a Democrat and 45 percent were undecided. This shows Bush may be able to capture enough of the Hispanic vote to win the election.
Support for two of the Democratic candidates may decline. In early July, pro-abortion Sen. Joe Lieberman and pro-abortion Rep. Dick Gephardt were criticized for leaving off information about their pro-abortion positions on the Spanish version of their web sites.
“While their English-language web pages very boldly pronounce their pro-abortion views, they know full well that their position on abortion isn't something they can sell to Hispanics,” Rojas said.
The poll of 3,092 adults, including 1,074 Hispanics, was taken July 13-27 and has an error margin of plus or minus 3 percentage points for the non-Hispanic sample and 4 percentage points for Hispanics.
(This article courtesy of Steven Ertelt and LifeNews.com. For more information or to subscribe go to LifeNews.com or email [email protected].)
