A new poll finds that -- no big surprise -- Americans remain incredibly conflicted about abortion. This is especially interesting:
The survey devoted particular attention to the views of young adults. It noted that 18-to-29-year-olds are far more likely than their elders to support same-sex marriage, but found there is no comparable generation gap regarding abortion.
In addition to its many new findings, the survey tracked other polls over the past 12 years to highlight a sharp discrepancy in attitudes toward the two most prominent hot-button issues of the culture wars.
Views on abortion have been stable, with 56 percent of Americans telling Gallup pollsters this year that it should be legal in most or all cases compared to 57 percent who said that in 1999. In contrast, support for same-sex marriage has surged - from 35 percent in 1999 to 53 percent in 2011, according to Pew Research Center polls.
A key factor in that discrepancy relates to attitudes of the so-called millennials between the ages of 18 and 29.
"Millennials strongly support gender equality and rights for gay and lesbian people," the survey said. "However ... younger Americans are no more supportive of abortion rights than the general population."
This isn't surprising, or at least it shouldn't be. Same-sex marriage is one of those hot-button social issues about which we should expect young people, who generally follow their emotional instincts, to be more tolerant than their elders. Some of them will adopt more traditional views as they get older, but many will not -- this country is trending more gay-tolerant all the time.
Abortion, on the other hand, is a life-or-death issue. Gay marriageis an issue about which it is possible to say, "Well, it gives some people freedom without taking away anything from anybody else." It is not possible to say that about abortion. We may differ on whether a fetus is human life or potential human life, but there's no getting around their intentional destruction. That's not something about which people's attitudes are likely to "evolve."
Comments
What do you suppose would happen to that statistic of young people if, as part of their science classes/curriculum they were all shown a real ultrasound at say 24-27 weeks?
Make it easier/lift restrictions on abortion/make the abortion pill prevalent so it's easier to have one earlier than 20 weeks, and the ultrasound argument falls by the wayside, don't you think?
AJ
Regardless of where you stand on the issue, this much is certain: If abortion is outlawed, ads for abortion pills from overseas pharmacies will flood your spam folders. They might well rival the Viagra offers everyone gets now. The argument is moot, because any ban would be unenforceable.
If one were going to argue that the rights of the fetus outweigh the rights of the mother, he would want the state to recognize the fetus as a human being.
1. At present, if a fetus dies before it is born, it's as if it never existed; if the state recognized it as a human being, it should be able to inherit wealth while still a fetus, and if it is a stillbirth, it would die intestate. This could be done NOW.
2. If the state recognized a fetus as a human being, it should be legal to adopt a fetus. This could be done NOW.
3. If the state recognized a fetus as a human being, the mother should be entitled to a double exemption on income taxes, and the fetus should be counted as a child for food stamp calculations. This could be done NOW.
4. If the state recognized a fetus as a human being, it would establish a registry so that when a mother wanted to abort her baby, the doctor would instead transplant the fetus into the womb of a woman wanting to carry the child to birth. This could be done NOW.
5. Life insurance companies should be required to issue life insurance policies on fetuses. This could be done NOW.
And if you make abortion illegal, you'll need to decide how many years a woman should rot in prison for aborting a fetus. Or should she get the electric chair?
and when th e founding fathers were crafting the constitution, personage and the rights accorded them were for people alteady born. AJ
On a bit of a side note, Leo, I'm wondering why you put quotation marks around the word "evolve."
Did you do it in the sense of "I don't really mean this"?
Do you dislike the Theory of Evolution and therefore find it difficult to use the word?
I don't mean to put words in your mouth; maybe you didn't really mean anything by it. But I'm curious.