{"id":191145,"date":"2018-11-20T14:22:37","date_gmt":"2018-11-20T20:22:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=191145"},"modified":"2018-11-16T20:45:13","modified_gmt":"2018-11-17T02:45:13","slug":"americans-feelings-abortion-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/americans-feelings-abortion-media\/","title":{"rendered":"Confused about Americans’ real feelings on abortion? Blame the media."},"content":{"rendered":"
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(National\u00a0Review<\/a>) Buzzfeed<\/i>\u00a0published an interesting article<\/a> recently by Ema O\u2019Connor, entitled \u201cNo One Really Knows What Americans Think About Abortion.\u201d O\u2019Connor provides a detailed analysis of the recent polling on life issues. She notes that many Americans have nuanced views on abortion that are not reflected by the survey questions typically asked in polls and that responses are often affected by subtle changes in question wording. She also correctly points out that many polls are commissioned by advocacy groups that have a vested interest in obtaining a particular result.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Connor also seems to agree with the pro-life argument<\/a> that polls on public opinion of\u00a0Roe v. Wade<\/em>\u00a0tend to be unhelpful. In particular, she notes a PerryUndem poll finding that 30 percent of respondents weren\u2019t sure what\u00a0Roe<\/em>\u00a0was about or thought the case had to do with a topic other than abortion. Most Americans fail to understand the policy implications of the ruling in\u00a0Roe<\/em>, and others don\u2019t know what would actually happen if it\u00a0were overturned. As a result, O\u2019Connor rightly concludes that many surveys are not particularly useful in helping us achieve a better understanding of public opinion on abortion.<\/p>\n

READ:\u00a0Despite skewed polls on Roe, new poll proves majority still against abortion<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

However, O\u2019Connor\u2019s article neglects polling data that do reveal what many Americans believe about some aspects of abortion policy. For instance, a substantial majority favors limiting<\/a> late-term abortions. There is strong public support for a range of incremental pro-life laws such as parental-involvement laws, limits on taxpayer funding for abortion, and informed-consent laws. These findings remain consistent regardless of which survey-research firm conducted the polling or the specific wording of survey questions.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, much of the blame for the confusion about abortion attitudes falls not on advocacy groups but on media outlets and research firms, both of which commissioned many of the misleading polls about Roe<\/em>\u00a0that were the focus of attention after former Supreme Court justice Anthony Kennedy\u2019s resignation.<\/p>\n

Some polling firms rarely conduct surveys of public opinion about the legality of late-term abortions or about incremental pro-life laws. Since 1995, Gallup has asked respondents to identify as either \u201cpro-life\u201d or \u201cpro-choice\u201d 32 times, but during the same time period, Gallup only asked about the legality of third-trimester abortions six times, parental-involvement laws five times, and waiting periods four times.<\/p>\n