2026 Gallup poll shows decreases in support for birth control, teen sex, and more

Since the turn of the millennium, Americans have generally grown more lax in accepting behaviors previously considered immoral by most people – until recently, that is. A recent Gallup poll tracking Americans’ views of the moral acceptability of 20 different behaviors shows that support for five of those behaviors has fallen significantly from last year. 

Key Takeaways:

• A recent Gallup poll tracking multiple behaviors and the public's view of their moral acceptability has shown significant changes in five areas, with three of them focusing around birth control, having a child out of wedlock, and sex between teens.

• Support for the moral acceptability of birth control has dropped to record low of 83% from a record high of 92% in 2022.

• In 2023, support for the moral acceptability of having a baby outside of marriage hit a high of 70%; in 2026, that dropped to a low of 58%.

• In 2022, 46% of respondents approved of the moral acceptability of sex between teenagers; by 2026, that had dropped to just 35%.

The Details:

In 2026, Americans are less likely to say that birth control, having a baby outside of marriage, and sex between teenagers is morally acceptable than they were last year and in other recent years within the last decade.

Birth Control

Support for birth control is at a record low, according to the poll.

Birth control has been widely held as morally acceptable by the majority of Americans over the past decade. The Gallup poll shows that the approval of birth control remained mostly steady from 2012 through 2025, with roughly 90% of Americans considering it morally acceptable. From 2012 to 2022, approval for birth control rose from 89% in 2012 to a high of 92% in 2022.

In 2026, however, Americans’ view of the moral acceptability of birth control dropped to a record low — from 90% in 2025 to 83% in 2026 — since Gallup began recording this data in 2012. The second lowest approval rating since 2012 was recorded in 2023 as 88%.

The partisan divides are close on the issue of birth control. Seventy-nine percent (79%) of Independents said that birth control is morally acceptable; 81% of Republicans said that birth control is morally acceptable; 92% of Democrats said that birth control is morally acceptable. 

Birth control, along with divorce, is considered the most morally acceptable of the other behaviors listed by the Gallup poll, and this is reflected across partisan lines.

Birth control was made widely accessible in the U.S. in 1972, when the court ruled in the case Eisenstadt v. Baird that unmarried individuals could legally use contraception. (Birth control was originally legalized in the U.S. for married couples only in the year 1965.)

Since then, birth control has been widely utilized by Americans, though a recent trend of young women eschewing birth control for health reasons has grown. This might partly explain the drop in approval of birth control among Americans reflected in the Gallup poll.

Having a baby outside of marriage

In 2026, Americans are also significantly less likely to say that having a baby outside of marriage is morally acceptable than they were last year.

A little over half of Americans — 58% — responded in 2026 that having a baby outside of marriage is morally acceptable. This represents a sizable 11-percentage point drop from last year’s 67% approval of childbirth outside of wedlock.

Childbirth outside of marriage has been viewed with disapproval for generations, across countries and cultures. However, in the United States, approval has increased over the years (from 45% in 2002 to a high of 70% in 2023). The percentage of respondents stating that having a baby outside of marriage is morally acceptable peaked in 2022 and 2023, with a high of 70% responding in the affirmative.

But then, in 2024, the approval rating for the morality of this behavior dropped to 68%; in 2025, it was down to 67%; then it fell off sharply this year to 58%. A noteworthy 35% (more than a third of respondents) said it is morally wrong. Just 7% responded that the morality of the behavior depends on the situation or they have no opinion.

Compared to the partisan divide on other issues like abortion and sex between teenagers, the approval ratings across party lines for having a baby outside of marriage are fairly close.

Forty-four percent (44%) of Republicans say that having a baby outside of marriage is morally acceptable; 56% of Independents agree, along with 76% of Democrats.

Sex between teenagers

From 2014 to 2022, Americans’ perception of the moral acceptability of sex between teenagers rose fairly steadily, with a 2022 high of 46% responding that sex between teenagers is morally acceptable. Since 2022, that number has dropped consistently each year. The poll shows that, in 2026, just over a third of Americans — 35% — think that sex between teenagers is morally acceptable.

While 35% of Americans voiced support for the morality of sex between teenagers, more than half of the poll respondents — 57% — said that this behavior is morally wrong. This is notable, especially considering the proliferation of harmful and ideological “sex ed” in schools, which teaches teenagers that sex is normal and even positive for them.

The partisan gap is especially wide on this issue, the poll reveals. While just 16% of Republicans responded that sex between teenagers is morally acceptable, 54% of Democrats said that it’s okay for teenagers to have sex, and 35% of Independents agreed.

The Greatest Divide:

Americans are most divided in their views on abortion, doctor-assisted suicide, and medical testing on animals. 

The split between the number of Americans who responded that abortion is morally acceptable —49% — and the number of Americans who responded that abortion is morally wrong — 41% — is very close.

The divide holds steady among Americans regarding support for doctor-assisted suicide:

• 49% of Americans responded that doctor-assisted suicide is morally acceptable.

• 45% of Americans responded that doctor-assisted suicide is morally wrong.

Americans are similarly split on whether or not medical testing on animals is morally acceptable.

Most Americans agree that cloning humans and extramarital affairs are morally wrong, and most Americans accept divorce and birth control, though support for birth control is at a record low.

The Bottom Line:

Gallup’s latest poll reveals that Americans’ attitudes towards several controversial issues regarding sexual ethics have shifted this year in a conservative direction. This year, Americans are significantly less likely to say that birth control, having a baby outside of marriage, and sex between teenagers is morally acceptable than they were just a year ago. 

This newest data suggests that there may be some degree of cultural change moving American hearts and minds in a healthier moral direction. Time will tell.