A large and potentially growing gender gap among young adults should interest — and concern — pro-life analysts and strategists.
Last week’s Gallup poll on abortion brought good news to pro-lifers. Several survey questions showed a recent increase in pro-life sentiment. However, one unreported finding is that pro-lifers made substantial gains among young adults. This poll found that the percentage of young adults ages 18 to 29 who thought “abortion should be legal in all circumstances” fell from 54 percent to 44 percent — a ten percentage point drop.
When one compares the results of the 2025 Gallup poll to the 2023 Gallup poll, the pro-life gains among young adults are even more impressive. Between 2023 and 2025, the percentage of young adults who identified as “pro-life” increased by eight percentage points. Furthermore, the percentage of young adults who thought “abortion should be legal in all circumstances” fell by a whopping 14 percentage points.
Additionally, the General Social Survey of the National Opinion Research Center (GSS) shows similar trends in abortion attitudes among young adults. The GSS asks respondents whether abortion should be a legal option in each of seven separate circumstances. When the responses to these questions are averaged, support for legal abortion among young adults 18 to 34 fell by more than seven percentage points between 2022 and 2024. Support for legal abortion among the entire survey fell by about three percentage points.
In particular, increases in pro-life sentiment among young men might be responsible for these trends. A number of media outlets have reported on increases in church attendance among young men in the United States. Furthermore, a recent Ipsos poll out of Great Britain showed found that men 16 to 34 were considerably less likely to support legal abortion than were other demographic groups.
Both Gallup and the General Social Survey showed a substantial increase in support for legal abortion among young adults shortly after the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision. However, more recent polling shows that there may be a regression toward the mean. That is a reason for optimism. That said, a large and potentially growing gender gap among young adults should interest — and concern — pro-life analysts and strategists.