It has been 45 years since the Roe v Wade decision, and the polling group Marist has released the results of its annual survey measuring public opinion on abortion. 

Guy Benson at Townhall pointed out that:

substantial and enduring majorities support significant legal restrictions on abortion.  In practice, a majority of Americans embrace an overall stance that can be broadly defined as 'pro-life,' both on the ethical/moral and legal components of the issue.  A few highlights from the freshly-revealed numbers, commissioned by the Knights of Columbus and executed by a respected pollster with whom NBC News and NPR routinely collaborates:

(1) A slim 51 percent majority of respondents describe their abortion position as "pro-choice," with 44 percent responding "pro-life," and four percent unsure.  This gap has narrowed considerably from last year's poll, in which "pro-choice" held a (56/39) advantage.  The current spread reflected in the new poll closely matches this series' fairly consistent findings over the last five years.

(2) Just 12 percent of Americans support the Democratic Party's radical abortion platform, which effectively favors restriction-free abortion-on-demand (some left-wing state legislatures have gone even further in their extremism).  Fewer than one-in-four respondents say abortion should be widely legal either throughout pregnancy, or at least through the first two trimesters.  

(3) A lopsided majority -- 76 percent -- believe that legal abortion should be limited to the first trimester, permitted only in very rare circumstances (rape, incest, or to save the mother's life), or barred entirely.  Support for these pro-life reforms includes 61 percent of Democrats and 78 percent of independents.  And even if you excise the 'first trimester' option, fully 50 percent of Americans believe abortion should only be legally allowed in a handful of narrow circumstances, or not at all.

(4) As has been the case throughout this polling series (stretching back to 2012), a clear majority of voters say abortion is morally wrong, as opposed to morally acceptable.  The latter option has consistently outpaced the latter one by roughly 15 to 25 percentage points.  In addition, 52 percent say abortion "does more harm than good" in the long run, whereas 29 percent say it "improves a woman's life."  Efforts to normalize abortion are failing.  Most people understand the gravity of taking of an innocent human life.

(5) By a 30-point margin (63/33) US voters favor a ban on abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, when an unborn child has reached her sixth month in the womb.  The House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on a measure that offers such protections on the day of the March for Life.  A similarly robust majority (60/36) opposes taxpayer dollars being directed to finance abortions.

Benson also had a chance to looking at the poll's internal numbers, which were highly encouraging. There is almost no gender gap on the issue:

I've now glanced over the internals, and I'm struck again by the lack of a gender gap.  On the specific question of when abortion should and should not be illegal, 51 percent of women choose one of the three post pro-life options, compared to 22 percent who choose the two most pro-choice options; those numbers among men are 51 and 25 percent, respectively. In total, 78 percent of American women favor significant new restrictions on abortion.  Among Millennial voters, 68 percent say abortion should be limited to the first trimester or restricted even further. Among Latinos, that number is 77 percent.

Groups like New Wave Feminists are a new, younger brand of pro-choice fighters that are adding an important voice to the movement. With advances in medical imaging and technology, it is getting harder and harder to deny the humanity of the unborn. Maybe this will be the generation to shift the tides.