Ramesh makes a good point in his response to my post on the recent Gallup poll on abortion. Throughout most of Gallup’s polling, the two relatively pro-life options, “abortion should be illegal in all circumstances” or abortion should be legal “only in a few circumstances” almost always outpoll the alternatives that are more sympathetic to legal abortion.

That changed with the May 2022 leak of the Dobbs decision, but Ramesh is correct that there has been a regression back to the historical pattern. Furthermore, there are additional reasons for optimism.

The year 2024 was in some respects a difficult year for the pro-life movement. The mainstream media continued their negative — and misleading — coverage on the impact of pro-life laws. Furthermore, Kamala Harris made legal abortion the centerpiece of her presidential campaign. Meanwhile President Biden failed to support federal protections for the preborn. He also did not make strong arguments in favor of existing pro-life laws.

The fact that the pro-life position gained ground in the court of public opinion during a difficult year is a reason for optimism. Ramesh is correct that the pro-life position may continue to make gains in the court of public opinion in the near future.