Over at National Review's "The Corner," Ramesh Ponnuru points out a recent CBS/New York Times poll that's been quoted noting that 75 percent of the public favors legal abortion. Do not confuse that with 75 percent of the public approving the status quo.

The source for the Times claim, and the apparent source for Slate too, is a CBS/NYT poll that is currently at the top of the Polling Report's abortion page. The question asked is whether abortion should be "generally available," "available. . . under stricter limits," or "not permitted." The latest results: 39, 37, and 21. You can spin that to mean that 76 percent of the public thinks that abortion should be "available," or that 58 percent of the public wants "stricter limits." Or you can conclude that the poll is not terribly well designed.

Personally, I'll go with the last option.