Justin Dyer, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Missouri in Columbia, wrote in The Kansas City Star special report:

“After the sensational murder trial of Pennsylvania abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, a curious thing happened to American public opinion: nothing at all. According to a new Gallop poll, Americans remain divided into the same basic camps with respect to abortion rights.

“Gosnell’s crimes — which include killing three post-birth infants and negligently administering a lethal dose of Demerol to a 41-year-old Nepali refugee — had no effect on Gallup’s poll numbers, which have remained constant since the 1970s. Given the case’s sordid and heart-wrenching details, Gallup’s seeming non-story (“public opinion same as always”) is significant.”