Gallupreleased the results of their annual abortion questionnaire yesterday. Since 1995 they have been asking Americans whether they identify as “pro-life” or “pro-choice.” When they asked the question in 1995, 56% of Americans considered themselves pro-choice and 33% pro-life. In 2012 the situation is nearly reversed with 50% identifying as pro-life and 41% as pro-choice.
Often in questionnaires about abortion people’s true positions get blurred by the legal vs. moral distinction. For example, someone may be opposed to abortion morally, but think people should have a legal right to an abortion. Such a person could rightly identify as either pro-choice or pro-life. To truly gauge people’s views on abortion we need to separate the legal question from the moral question. Gallupdid just that, asking people what they thought of the morality of abortion, apart from whether or not they think it should be legal. The result was 51% saying they thought abortion was morally wrong, while only 38% thought it was morally acceptable.
Thinking to Believe 
May 25, 2012 at 5:50 am
Interesting – my dad is of the latter – While he thinks it is immoral to do such a thing, he is aware that people will do it anyway and would rather it not be done on the black market.
I disagree and think it ought not be legal, let alone possible on the NHS for free!!
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May 25, 2012 at 8:48 am
Scottspeig,
One tactic you can use for getting your dad to see the illogical nature of his position is to use the same reasoning but apply it to another issue. For example, say, “I agree. That’s the same reason I support making spousal abuse legal. It’s going to happen anyway, and I would rather it not be done in secret where more harm could be done.” Or, “I agree. That’s the same reason I support making bank robbery legal. It’s going to happen anyway, and I would rather have robbers take the money in a safe manner than for people to get killed in the process.”
People also fail to realize that the law is a moral teacher. When you permit X, you tell the public it is ok to do X, and you will increase the number of people who do X. When abortion was legalized the number of abortions in this country shot up, and people’s opinions on abortion changed too. Making any immoral behavior legal confuses people’s moral compass and encourages them to act immorally.
He should also consider the numbers. How many women would die as a result of their illegal activity (seeking an illegal abortion) vs. the number of children who die as a result of abortion? If the concern is for making life safe for humans, then that is the best reason to make abortion illegal since life is currently unsafe for 1.3 million American babies (so unsafe that they are murdered). Only a handful of women died each year when abortion was illegal.
Jason
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June 19, 2012 at 6:46 am
“When abortion was legalized the number of abortions in this country shot up, and people’s opinions on abortion changed too. Making any immoral behavior legal confuses people’s moral compass and encourages them to act immorally.” – I would have to disagree. We seen more because less was done illegally, but as you can tell from the survey, our views on the morality of the issue changed for the better over time, so it did not confuse our moral compass.
While I disagree on the issue of it bringing down our morals, I agree that abortion is wrong. Abortion is not a choice. Women use the excuse of it being ‘their body’, well it isn’t, it is another person;s body, and if they cannot defend themselves, it is up to us to defends their life. There are better choices. If you make the wrong choices and end up pregnant, you should have to deal with that. I am pro life because I stand behind the rights of the child, no matter how old the fetus is.
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June 19, 2012 at 1:11 pm
Jason, I am glad to hear you are aligned with the prolife cause of defending the right to life for every human being–regardless of their size, location, level of development, or degree of dependency on others for their existence.
I am a bit confused, however, as to why, if you think that abortion is wrong, that making it legal would not bring down the morality of our nation. Could you explain?
Jason
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