{"id":20932,"date":"2013-07-03T10:31:38","date_gmt":"2013-07-03T15:31:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/?p=20932"},"modified":"2013-07-03T11:04:11","modified_gmt":"2013-07-03T16:04:11","slug":"us-public-attitude-towards-abortion-have-been-stable-for-decades","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/2013\/07\/03\/us-public-attitude-towards-abortion-have-been-stable-for-decades\/","title":{"rendered":"US public opinion on abortion has been stable for decades"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nick Gillespie<\/a> says the stability of beliefs on the topic of abortion is one of the most striking things about the whole debate:<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Yet the most striking thing about attitudes toward abortion is how stable they\u2019ve been over the 40 years since Roe v. Wade<\/em>. 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 \u201cshould be legal only under certain circumstances.\u201d 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 \u201cpro-life\u201d and \u201cpro-choice\u201d 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).<\/p>\n

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 \u2014 and most of its highest-profile members, including President Barack Obama \u2014 \u201cstrongly and unequivocally supports\u201d abortion at any time and for any reason during a pregnancy.<\/p>\n

Most Americans reject such categorical, extreme views and instead offer conditional support for abortion depending on when it\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

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.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Update<\/b>: You went full Satanist. Never go full Satanist<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Not that invoking Satan isn’t serious, but the response on Twitter included some great humor. A few of my favorites:<\/p>\n

\n

3 rules: don\u2019t start a land war in Asia. Don\u2019t go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line. Don\u2019t #HailSatan<\/a> at your abortion rally.<\/p>\n

— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) July 3, 2013<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n