Every year, Gallup releases a (relatively) in-depth survey on American attitudes toward abortion. In the last two years, the "pro-life" position has been in the lead (51-42 in 2009, and a slimmer 47-45 in 2010). This year, according to Gallup's press release today, the "pro-choice" position has retaken a slim advantage, 49-45.
As a pro-choice individual, and a poll junkie, it's nice to see my side fighting back. The problem is, a graph charting only whether someone considers themselves "pro-life" or "pro-choice" tells you very little about their actual views of legal abortion. When you actually get into the detailed questions and answers, you'll find the number of Americans who are truly "pro-choice", by any proper definition, is jarringly, shockingly small.
The first indication that the numbers aren’t what they seem is in the nebulous “some circumstances” position. From Gallup:
Gallup's longest-running measure of abortion views asks Americans if abortion should be legal under any circumstances, legal only under certain circumstances, or illegal in all circumstances. The plurality of Americans, 50%, continue to choose the middle position on this, saying abortion should be legal under certain circumstances, as majorities or pluralities have since 1975.
So we have roughly a quarter of Americans believing abortion should always be illegal, and a quarter of Americans believing it should always be legal, and the rest believing legality is dependent on specific circumstances. Fair enough. But this is why the terms are meaningless. According to Gallup, someone who believes abortion should only be legal in cases of rape, incest, or to protect the health or life of the mother is equally likely to call themselves “pro-choice” as they are “pro-life”. So are the middle 50% closer to the extreme pro-life position, or the extreme pro-choice position?
Since 1994, Gallup has also asked those who think abortion should be legal under certain circumstances to say whether it should be legal in "most" or "only a few" circumstances. On this basis, Americans are rather conservative in their stance on abortion, with 61% now preferring that abortion be legal in only a few circumstances or no circumstances. By contrast, 37% want abortion legal in all or most circumstances.
Interesting… but again, what is “a few” or “most”? Where would the average woman’s potential choice fall? On this question (which is, frankly, the only one that matters), we have to go into one of Gallup’s in-depth reports, which they only publish every decade or so. Here’s the most recent full report:
http://www.gallup.com/...
Gallup compiles their own surveys with AP, NYT, and others, to get the most accurate breakdown on Americans views of abortion’s legality in specific circumstances. The results:
84% of Americans believe abortion should be legal to protect the life of the woman
83% of Americans believe abortion should be legal to protect the physical health of the woman
79% of Americans believe abortion should be legal in cases of rape or incest
64% of Americans believe abortion should be legal to protect the mental health of the woman
53% of Americans believe abortion should be legal if the baby would be mentally impaired
51% of Americans believe abortion should be legal if the baby would be physically impaired
42% of Americans believe abortion should be legal if pregnancy would force a teenager to drop out of school
39% of Americans believe abortion should be legal if the woman/family can’t afford the baby
39% of Americans believe abortion should be legal if the woman/family don’t want any more children
35% of Americans believe abortion should be legal if the couple doesn’t want to marry
29% of Americans believe abortion should be legal for fertility selection (when fertility process create multiple embryos)
25% of Americans believe abortion should be legal if pregnancy would interfere with a woman’s career
Think about these numbers for a moment. Only 39% of Americans believe it should be legal for a woman to choose abortion if she can’t afford to be a mom? Only 25% (!!) of Americans believe abortion should be legal in the case of a career woman who doesn’t want to be pregnant at that time? And again – these are not questions over whether abortion would be moral in these circumstances, but whether it should even be a legal option under such a circumstance.
I submit that if you do not believe that a woman has a legal right to terminate a pregnancy so she can continue her career, or for any other reason of her personal choice, then you are not pro-choice by any meaningful definition of the term.
So while it may be nice that the majority of Americans are calling themselves pro-choice again, the phrase “pro-choice” is completely pointless unless you believe abortion is a legal choice for a woman to make under any of the circumstances outlined above. It’s like including people who eat chicken and fish as “vegetarians” in a survey, as long as they don’t eat red meat. That’s just not what the word means. The fact that there may be a significant number of self-described “vegetarians” who eat chicken is irrelevant. They aren’t vegetarians.
(By the way, it should be noted that men and women are completely lock-step identical in virtually every category, restriction desire, terminology, you name it. Contrary to popular opinion, Gallup has never found any statistically significant difference in gender responses on this issue.)
I bring this up today because it’s important to understand exactly what we’re up against. It does no good to delude ourselves into believing the abortion issue is largely “settled”, or to roll our eyes at the right wing's attempt to limit reproductive freedom. Roe v. Wade is still very much in danger. Every year, another state passes more and more restrictive bans on abortion rights. The South Dakota House of Representatives recently declared killing someone “in defense of an unborn child” is justifiable homicide. In fact, Mother Jones reports 33 new anti-abortion laws in 9 states passed in just April of this year, some of them severely restricting abortion rights in already restrictive states.
Much like gay marriage, abortion rights are an issue of personal freedom, liberty, and equality. And, much like gay marriage, it is possible to change minds through increased education. In fact, just a few days ago, Gallup also reported that the majority of Americans now support gay marriage rights for the first time. Unlike meaningless “pro-choice” and “pro-life” terms, Gallup’s gay marriage question is clear: “Do you think marriages between same-sex couples should or should not be recognized by the law as valid, with the same rights as traditional marriages?” We now stand 53% support, 45% oppose – a remarkable turnaround. If only support for a woman’s right to choose could get that high.