Contrary to popular belief, Americans' moral acceptance of several behaviors, including birth control and gambling, has significantly declined.



Contrary to conventional wisdom, Americans may not be growing more liberal on every question of ethics and morality.

That's according to Gallup’s latest Values and Beliefs poll, which found that U.S. adults are increasingly likely to view certain behaviors as morally unacceptable, with support declining on a range of issues from birth control to gambling.

The percentage of Americans who say birth control is morally acceptable plunged from 90 percent to 83 percent in just one year. Acceptance also has fallen sharply on several other issues, including having a baby outside of marriage (70 percent in 2023, 67 percent in 2025 and 58 percent today), gambling (71 percent in 2022, 63 percent in 2025 and 57 percent today), sex between teenagers (35 percent today after peaking at 46 percent in 2022) and cloning animals (27 percent in 2026, down from a high of 40 percent in 2018).

A Gallup analysis said that moral acceptance of all five behaviors declined “significantly” over the past year.

But other issues saw less dramatic movement. On abortion, 49 percent of Americans now consider it morally acceptable, compared to 41 percent who say it is morally wrong, marking a modest shift from 2025, when the margin was 54 percent to 37 percent.

On gay and lesbian relations, 62 percent say they are morally acceptable, while 33 percent view them as morally wrong – a slight decline from last year, when the figures stood at 64 percent and 33 percent, respectively.

Gallup said the findings indicate that Americans' views on morality may be entering a new phase.

“Over the past two decades, Americans have grown generally more accepting of most of the behaviors measured by Gallup, which include those associated with sex, marriage, and certain medical and end-of-life issues,” an analysis said. “However, this trend toward more permissive attitudes has largely plateaued or pulled back in recent years, though acceptance levels on most behaviors remain higher than they were 25 years ago.”

Gallup has asked Americans annually since 2001 whether they consider a range of behaviors and practices to be morally acceptable or morally wrong.

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