Utilizing data from the National Opinion Research Centers General Social Survey 1972-78 trends in attitudes toward abortion on the part of the U.S. population are analyzed with emphasis on a comparison of attitudes before and after the 1973 Supreme Court Decisions. Comparisons are also made with findings from the 1960s regarding abortion attitudes. It is shown that while there was increasing liberalization of attitudes during the 60s and early 70s by 1975 the trend began to change and attitudes became slightly more conservative. By 1978 that trend was pronounced. A comparison of respondents by age sex and educational characteristics shows important differences between the 1960 and 1970 data. In the 1960s it was male better educated older people who were most liberal in their abortion attitudes. In the 1970s male-female differences are not so consistent and vary year by year. The age trend reversed itself. While a positive relationship between education and liberal attitudes persists in the 70s the college educated remained relatively constant in their attitudes while respondents with only a high school education became more favorable to abortion over the decade. (Authors modified)