{"id":229650,"date":"2020-08-28T16:24:23","date_gmt":"2020-08-28T21:24:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=229650"},"modified":"2020-08-27T22:09:13","modified_gmt":"2020-08-28T03:09:13","slug":"pro-life-educational-efforts-changing-hearts-minds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/pro-life-educational-efforts-changing-hearts-minds\/","title":{"rendered":"Professor: Pro-life educational efforts ‘are changing hearts and minds’ on abortion"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In a recent 40 Days for Life podcast episode<\/a>, co-host Steve Karlen, 40 Days for Life campaign director, interviewed Dr. Michael New<\/a>, visiting associate professor at Catholic University in Political Science and Social Research. Dr. New pointed out that it is difficult to gauge where the American public stands on abortion due to various factors, including misleading and unclear polling.<\/p>\n

Do Americans want Roe v. Wade overturned?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

On the podcast, Karlen asked Dr. New to comment on the surprisingly different answers Americans give when polled about whether they identify as pro-life or pro-choice versus when they’re asked if they want Roe v. Wade<\/em>\u00a0to be overturned.<\/p>\n

“What is going on here, and what are we to take away from an American public that really can’t seem to make up its mind on the topic of abortion?” asked Karlen.<\/p>\n

Dr. New said he believes “the polling on Roe v. Wade<\/em> is very misleading and very unhelpful in terms of gauging what Americans really think about abortion.” There are three reasons for this, he said:<\/p>\n

First, some people don’t even know what Roe v. Wade’s even about. There was a poll done in 2013 by Rasmussen that found that like 15% of Americans thought that Roe v. Wade had to do with segregation. So, people don’t pay close attention to politics. Most people are not activists and political stuff is not, you know, crossing their minds all that often. So, that’s one problem.<\/em><\/p>\n

Another issue is that many people do not “understand the complete implications of the Roe v. Wade<\/em> decision,” meaning they are unaware that it “effectively legalized abortion on demand in all 50 states throughout all nine months of pregnancy.”<\/p>\n