Most Americans support abortion rights, and very few think abortion should always be illegal, according to a new Notre Dame study. The study also found that Americans find discourse around abortion alienating, and that labels like pro-choice and pro-life do not accurately capture their views on abortion. The study endeavored to move beyond neat labels, and to explore how people think about abortion and what influences those thoughts.
A More Nuanced View of Abortion
The study used detailed interviews with a randomly selected sample of 217 Americans. Some of the findings include:
- Americans support choice by a wide margin. Eighty-six percent said abortion should be legal in some circumstances, with 35 percent saying it should be legal under all circumstances.
- Just 14 percent of Americans believe abortion should be illegal in all situations.
- Religion was not a strong predictor of views on abortion. Of religiously affiliated interviewees, 40 percent identified as “pro-choice” and 44 percent embraced the label “pro-life.” Catholics were slightly more likely to identify as pro-choice than pro-life.
- Thirty-three percent of interviewees said they are morally opposed to abortion. Twenty-nine percent were not morally opposed, with 38 percent saying the morality of abortion “depends.”
- Participants often weighed whether a baby could have a “good life” in assessing the morality of abortion.
- No participants, even pro-choice interviewees, talked about abortion as a desirable good. Instead, they viewed it as an acceptable option or as a good option in bad circumstances.
- Many participants said they never talked about abortion, and that no one had ever asked them their views on the topic.
- Participants were evenly split by political ideology: 33 percent identified as liberal; 33 percent identified as moderate; and 34 percent identified as conservative.
Significant Knowledge Gaps
“Unlike activists well-versed in the science and legality of abortion, everyday Americans hold an uneven knowledge of biology, sexual behavior, pregnancy,gestational development, abortion, abortion laws, and more,” the study explained.
Interviewees expressed limited knowledge of science, biology, and fetal development, and did not understand how abortion regulations related to these topics. Media, sex education, and experience having children offered some additional knowledge, but this information was incomplete and sometimes misleading.
This is consistent with previous research, which shows that media coverage of abortion often features factually incorrect information. Anti-choice myths about abortion and abortion clinics continue to color abortion discourse.
Many study participants focused on the situations that cause people to choose abortion rather than the abortion itself. This is something anti-choice politicians continue to ignore. Republicans consistently support policies that encourage people to have abortions.
The study’s authors offer several strategies for having more productive conversations about abortion, including:
- Engaging in discussions rather than debates.
- Setting aside pro-choice and pro-life labels.
- Talking about parenthood, social support, inequality, and economics.
- Focusing on maximizing positive long-term outcomes for families.
- Viewing the issue of abortion as something that affects themselves and those they love, not distant strangers.
- Identifying strategies to reduce the circumstances that cause people to choose abortion.