Young people also registered a broad change in opinion on abortion over the last month.
The February poll also showed a 19 point jump in pro-life identification among people under 45 years old. Forty-seven percent of people under the age of 45 now say they are pro-life, compared to 48 percent who say they are pro-choice.
One month ago, only 28 percent of people under the age of 45 said they were pro-life.
Since January, the number of Americans who identify as pro-choice has dropped from 55 percent to 47 percent. The number of Americans who identify as pro-life increased from 38 percent in January to 47 percent in February.
Since the release of a similar poll in January,, New York and Vermont have both passed bills removing most restrictions on abortion and allowing abortion to take place throughout a pregnancy.
(Story continues below)
Subscribe to our daily newsletter
At Catholic News Agency, our team is committed to reporting the truth with courage, integrity, and fidelity to our faith. We provide news about the Church and the world, as seen through the teachings of the Catholic Church. When you subscribe to the CNA UPDATE, we'll send you a daily email with links to the news you need and, occasionally, breaking news.
As part of this free service you may receive occasional offers from us at EWTN News and EWTN. We won't rent or sell your information, and you can unsubscribe at any time.
A similar bill in Virginia failed in committee. During a hearing, the bill's sponsor admitted there was nothing that would prevent an abortion from being performed while a woman was in active labor.
Both the January and February poll results showed that Americans are broadly opposed to late-term abortions at the center of several new laws in several states. An overwhelming margin of respondents-71 percent to 25 percent-said that they believed abortion should not be legal during the third trimester. This figure includes 60 percent of Democrats.
Only 18 percent of respondents said that they believed abortion should be legal until the moment of birth.