Five days ago, the Trump administration revoked federal guidance from the Department of Health and Human Services that had required hospitals to perform emergency abortions when the procedure is necessary to save a woman’s life or prevent serious complications—even in states with strict bans. The directive had been based on EMTALA, a federal law guaranteeing emergency care for all patients, but the White House has now decided not to apply that standard to pregnant women facing health risks.
Against this backdrop, a new Gallup poll published yesterday shows a record gender gap in views on abortion rights: women are increasingly identifying as pro-choice, while support for legal abortion among men is falling to its lowest point in decades.
Three years after the overturning of Roe v. Wade—and just months after an election in which abortion rights were a central issue—the gap between men and women on this question has reached a record high. That’s according to new Gallup polling data released on Monday.
How Men and Women Define Their Stance on Abortion
Pro-Choice — respondents who believe that the decision to terminate a pregnancy should be made by a woman and her doctor; they support broad legal access to abortion.
Pro-Life — those who believe fetal life should be legally protected from the moment of conception; they typically favor strict limits or a total ban on abortion.
The chart shows that 61% of women identify as pro-choice, compared to 41% of men, while 32% of women and 54% of men identify as pro-life. This results in a record 20-point gender gap. Source: Gallup poll, May 1–18, 2025 (1,003 adults; margin of error ±4 percentage points)
Pro-Life — those who believe fetal life should be legally protected from the moment of conception; they typically favor strict limits or a total ban on abortion.
The chart shows that 61% of women identify as pro-choice, compared to 41% of men, while 32% of women and 54% of men identify as pro-life. This results in a record 20-point gender gap. Source: Gallup poll, May 1–18, 2025 (1,003 adults; margin of error ±4 percentage points)
According to Gallup, in decades of polling, the gender gap on this issue had never exceeded 10 percentage points—until the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
The divide between men and women reflects not just political disagreement, but fundamental moral differences: 57% of women say abortion is morally acceptable, compared to just 40% of men. Moreover, only 41% of men believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases, whereas 56% of women share that view.
According to Lydia Saad, director of U.S. public opinion research at Gallup, the gender gap is driven less by a change in men’s attitudes after the fall of Roe v. Wade and more by a notable shift among women. Back in 2021, 52% of women and 45% of men identified as pro-choice. Since then, women’s support for abortion rights has risen significantly.
"Overall, what we see is that the side pushing to change the status quo tends to be the most energized," Saad says. "For years, it was pro-life voters who said they would only support candidates who aligned with their views. But since 2022, that dynamic has flipped."
Protesters mark 50 years since the landmark ruling that safeguarded abortion rights nationwide.
She notes that sudden political events can dramatically shift public opinion—but such changes are usually short-lived, and people tend to revert to their baseline attitudes within a few years. The decline in male support for abortion rights may simply reflect a return to that baseline. What surprises Saad, however, is that women’s mobilization around the issue remains so high.
"A line has been crossed for women," she says. "Where they once broadly supported the right to abortion, they’re now far more actively engaged in defending it."
Interestingly, support for reproductive rights has also risen among Democratic men: in 2020–2021, 63% believed abortion should be legal in most cases; by 2025, that figure had climbed to 78%.
Still, the broader decline in male support remains somewhat puzzling. While current levels are the lowest in a decade, Saad is not convinced the trend will persist.
Rights That Still Need Defending
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