Abortion Approximately 1.6 million legal abortions are performed each year.1 The majority of Americans support legal abortion. Groups that oppose abortion believe a fetus is a person and that aborting is murder. All women have the right to choose an abortion. Supporters of choice believe that abortion is not the same as taking life. In 1985, a Newsweek poll revealed that 76% of Americans agreed abortion should be legal.2 A wide variety of professional, women’s, and religious groups, such as the National Organization for Women (NOW), the American Medical Association, and the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws (NARAL) endorse legal abortion.3