EP 414 People’s True Attitudes About Abortion More Nuanced Than You Think

EP 414 People’s True Attitudes About Abortion More Nuanced Than You Think

You may not really know how people feel about abortion because no one likes to talk about the issue.  The sense you get from reading about abortion is that it divides people very neatly into camps-pro-life or pro-choice.  The truth is that once you sit down and discuss the issue with everyday Americans their views are much more difficult to categorize in neat buckets.  That’s according to Tricia Bruce, PhD., of the University of Notre Dame, who led a team of five sociologists in the definitive study called ‘How Americans Understand Abortion’.  People seem to grasp the gravity of the decision and the many factors that weigh into a woman’s decision.  In fact, one out of four women who agreed to be part of a survey on a major ‘social issue’, unaware when agreeing that it was abortion, had had one.  A major finding was that abortion is not merely a political issue, but an intimately personal one which involves not just life, but the notion of what is a good life for the mother and the child.  And while Americans don’t ‘want’ abortion, most recognized its place in the sphere of reproductive rights a woman should have an ability to choose, even if they want strict limitations placed on it.  Learn more about what Americans truly feel about one of the most contentious issues in the public realm.


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