Public Opinion of Abortion
Of all the issues roiling the ongoing culture wars, abortion is both the most intimate and the most common. Almost half of American women have terminated at least one pregnancy, and millions more Americans of both sexes have helped them, as partners, parents, health-care workers, counselors, and friends. Collectively, it would seem, Americans have quite a bit of knowledge and experience of abortion. Abortion over the last 10 years has become much more accepted and common then in recent years. Prior to Roe v. Wade in 1973, abortion was illegal in the U.S. with the exception of four states, and only under very limited circumstances, such as life endangerment. Women who wanted to terminate their pregnancy often sought illegal, back-alley abortions. On January 22, 1973, the landmark U. S. Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade legalized abortion in the United States. Argued by attorney Sarah Weddington, Roe v. Wade challenged the constitutionality of a Texas law that prohibited abortion except to save a woman's life. In a 7-2 ruling, the court ruled that the right to privacy extended to a woman's decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy. In my research I have found that Americans' su
Geographically, support for abortion rights is concentrated in large metropolitan centers and urbanized regions (Table 4C). The Northeast and Pacific regions show their typical bi-coastal cosmopolitanism with 40-47% being pro-choice. The East South Central region (Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, and Kentucky), has the fewest who completely approve of legalizing abortion. Similarly, those in the largest urban areas are more likely to back abortion than those in rural areas. Attitudes toward abortion are not evenly distributed throughout the population. There are sharp social cleavages that divide the public in terms of their opinions on abortion. The pro-choice position is most endorsed by the less religious, political liberals, residents of metropolitan areas and more urban regions of the country, the better educated, the Baby Boom generation, and Whites. Conversely, pro-lifers tend to be religious in general and Fundamentalists in particular, political conservatives, rural residents and from the Bible Belt, from older generations, and Blacks, Hispanics, and other racial groups. Men and women differ little in their views about abortion. According to the National Opinion Research Center study since the mid
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Approximate Word count = 838
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