Overview
- Gallup’s Values and Beliefs poll, conducted May 1–17 and reported in June, found year‑over‑year declines in the share of U.S. adults saying many behaviors are morally acceptable.
- Several measures hit Gallup record lows this year, including birth control (down to 83%), gambling (57%), and acceptance of changing one’s gender (38%), while having children outside marriage fell sharply to 58%.
- Views on abortion stayed essentially unchanged, with about 49% of respondents saying terminating a pregnancy is morally acceptable.
- The shifts are uneven by party and demographics, with the largest drops concentrated among Republicans and independents, a pattern that analysts say could affect legislative proposals and the tone of state-level debates.
- The new pullback follows two decades of growing permissiveness that peaked around 2022–23; the May poll surveyed 1,001 U.S. adults and carries a margin of error of ±4 percentage points.