{"id":230049,"date":"2020-09-02T14:29:41","date_gmt":"2020-09-02T19:29:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=230049"},"modified":"2020-09-02T14:34:37","modified_gmt":"2020-09-02T19:34:37","slug":"pro-lifers-survey-notre-dame-abortion-attitudes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/pro-lifers-survey-notre-dame-abortion-attitudes\/","title":{"rendered":"What pro-lifers can learn from Notre Dame’s survey on abortion attitudes"},"content":{"rendered":"
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(National Catholic Register<\/a>) There has probably been more polling on the issue of abortion than any other public policy issue. Countless polls have asked people to identify themselves as either \u201cpro-life\u201d or \u201cpro-choice.\u201d Other polls have asked about various incremental pro-life laws. Still others have asked whether abortion should be a legal option in different circumstances.\u00a0 However, last month, Notre Dame\u2019s McGrath Institute for Church Life released the results<\/a> of a different type of abortion survey. A team of five sociologists led by Tricia C. Bruce, Ph.D., conducted in-depth interviews with 217 Americans from a wide range of demographic groups. This survey attempts to better explain what motivates American attitudes on the issue of abortion.<\/p>\n

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The most important takeaway from the survey is that most people\u2019s attitudes toward abortion are nuanced<\/a>.\u00a0Most people are not activists and few invest a significant amount of time thinking about abortion. As such, some respondents who identified as \u201cpro-life\u201d thought that abortion should be a legal option in difficult situations involving rape or severe fetal defects.\u00a0 Similarly, some who identified as \u201cpro-choice\u201d opposed late-term abortions and strongly disapproved of using abortion as a form of contraception.\u00a0Individual attitudes were motivated by a range of factors including religiosity and ideology.\u00a0In particular, personal experiences with unintended pregnancies, adoptions, and miscarriages also often played a key role in people\u2019s opinions. Overall, the survey offers three takeaways that are important to ongoing pro-life educational efforts.<\/p>\n

1. Most People Are Not Particularly Knowledgeable About the Details of Abortion<\/strong><\/p>\n

Few people spend a significant amount of time researching abortion.\u00a0Many respondents were unfamiliar with basic facts about either fetal development or public policy. Most had heard of\u00a0Roe v. Wade<\/em>\u00a0but knew little about the ruling beyond the fact that it legalized abortion.\u00a0Additionally, many were unfamiliar with state laws that regulate abortion. Even though abortion was a very salient issue during the course of the interviews, many respondents distanced themselves from the specifics. Overall, this shows that pro-life educational efforts are important. More information about fetal development might reduce public support for legal abortion. Additionally, more polling about incremental pro-life laws would be helpful since many are unaware of the permissive nature of abortion policy in the United States.<\/p>\n