(CN) – White evangelical Protestant voters distinguish themselves from other religious and nonreligious groups by approving of abortion restrictions and disapproving of workplace protections for LGBTQ people, according to a poll released Thursday.
The AP-NORC poll reports that on the issue of abortion, 67% white evangelical Protestants support the government making abortions illegal except in cases of incest, rape or to protect the life of the mother. These views on abortion stand in contrast to the views of other religious groups: 45% of Catholics voiced their support for abortion restrictions, while white mainline Protestants and nonwhite Protestants offer even less support at 39% and 33%, respectively.
Among voters who considered themselves nonreligious, only 15% said they approve of the abortion restrictions.
The poll also found support for policies that would ban discrimination against LGBT individuals in the workplace and schools is weaker among white evangelical Protestants compared to other groups. Just a third of white evangelical Protestants said they support such antidiscrimination policies, while most Catholics and other Protestants voiced their support for the policies.
Nonreligious voters were particularly supportive of prohibiting discrimination against LGBT individuals, with 83% saying they approve of antidiscrimination measures.
White evangelical Protestants are also comparatively less supportive of certain economic policies than people of other faiths and denominations. The poll found 56% of white evangelical Protestants said they support higher taxes on the rich compared to 64% support from Catholics and 70% support from other Protestants.
A whopping 86% of nonreligious voters say they approve of raising taxes on the wealthy.
White evangelical Protestants are equally divided on their support for increasing assistance for poor Americans – and on this issue are more in line with other Christians. Exactly half of white evangelical Protestants said they approve of offering more help to improvised Americans, only slightly less than the 52% of white mainline Protestants and 55% of Catholics who support the idea.
Nonwhite Protestants and nonreligious people were decidedly more supportive of increased assistance for poorer Americans with 69% and 77% support, respectively.
Polling data suggest most white evangelical Protestants believe religion should play at least some part in policies regarding issues on abortion, economics, and LGBT discrimination.
All religious and nonreligious groups polled were broadly against the immigration border policies that separated children from their parents who entered the United States without documentation. Just 29% of white evangelical Protestants and 27% of Catholics support such border policies, while support dipped even lower among other Protestants and nonreligious individuals.
But the poll found white evangelical Protestants are largely supportive of President Donald Trump, with around 80% voicing their approval of Trump’s performance in office. The poll figures come a day before Trump is set to hold an “Evangelicals for Trump” event in Miami, Florida.
With many of these issues receiving intense focus during the Trump administration, white evangelical support for the president and the way he has navigated these issues are sure to play a role going into Trump’s re-election bid.
The AP-NORC poll contained a sample size of 1,053 Americans and a 4% margin of error.
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