Nick Gillespie says the stability of beliefs on the topic of abortion is one of the most striking things about the whole debate:
So despite decades of polling data showing that large majorities of Americans believe abortion should be legal under some circumstances, you could be excused for thinking there are only two possible positions when it comes to terminating pregnancies: either all abortions should be allowed, or none should be.
Yet the most striking thing about attitudes toward abortion is how stable they’ve been over the 40 years since Roe v. Wade. Gallup has been tracking public sentiment on the matter since 1975, when 22 percent of Americans agreed that abortion should be illegal under any circumstances and 21 percent believed it should be legal under any circumstances. Those numbers are now 18 percent and 28 percent respectively. In 1975 54 percent believed abortion “should be legal only under certain circumstances.” The number is now 52 percent and has never gone above 61 percent or below 48 percent. Over the past 15 years, the number of Americans calling themselves “pro-life” and “pro-choice” has narrowed to a few points, with 48 percent identifying as pro-choice and 44 percent as pro-life (in 2011, those figures were basically flipped).
Official political stances on abortion are absolutely Manichaean, however, with the Republican Party and most of its leading figures stressing that life begins at conception, a belief that would outlaw virtually all abortions except those necessary to protect the health of the mother. The Democratic Party platform — and most of its highest-profile members, including President Barack Obama — “strongly and unequivocally supports” abortion at any time and for any reason during a pregnancy.
Most Americans reject such categorical, extreme views and instead offer conditional support for abortion depending on when it’s performed. Gallup found that while 61 percent of Americans think abortion for should mostly be legal in the first three months of pregnancy and 27 percent felt it should be legal in the second trimester, just 14 percent agreed it should be allowed on demand in the final three months.
Unlike their political representatives, then, Americans hold a far more nuanced view of abortion, and one that comports with the reality of the procedure. Of the roughly 1 million abortions performed a year in America, about 90 percent take place within the first 12 weeks of pregnancy and only 1 percent take place after 20 weeks (in fact, over the past decade, there has been a marked trend toward earlier abortions). That helps explain why 62 percent of Texans supported S.B. 5, the bill that Wendy Davis filibustered.
Update: You went full Satanist. Never go full Satanist:
Not that invoking Satan isn’t serious, but the response on Twitter included some great humor. A few of my favorites:
3 rules: don’t start a land war in Asia. Don’t go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line. Don’t #HailSatan at your abortion rally.
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) July 3, 2013
Shouldn’t abortion be between a woman, her doctor, and the Dark Lord of the Underworld? I mean, come on.
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) July 3, 2013
They just want abortion to be safe, legal, rare and performed on the Fiery Blood Altar of the Plain of Tartarus by Dr. Kermit Beelzebub.
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) July 3, 2013
The Democrats do not support chanting #HailSatan. Satan is a patriachal oligarch who refuses to pay his fair share. Plus he believes in God.
— Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) July 3, 2013
Never go full Satanist.
— Just Karl (@justkarl) July 3, 2013
The Blaze noted:Obviously, it is much more likely that the abortion supporters were chanting “Hail Satan!” to mock pro-lifers rather than actually hailing Lucifer, but anything is possible.
I’m certain that the intent was mockery. The overall effect of chanting “Hail Satan”? That’s another story, but one of those effects is surely clarity.
Right. Having been to Texas, I can assure you that the defense of “We were mocking Christians by invoking Satan,” might actually make things worse.
