In this monograph the authors illuminate the complexity of people's views about abortion, and they show that opinion has been stable since the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.

In the years since the historic Roe v. Wade decision that made abortion legal in the United States, pro-life and pro-choice forces have organized, demonstrated, and participated in electoral politics--both sides claiming that the general public supports their position. Now it appears likely that Roe will be overturned or limited by the Supreme Court. If abortion politics is returned to national and state legislators, a clear reading of public opinion on abortion will become even more important. Using extensive analysis of survey data, Cook, Jelen, and Wilcox show that the American public values both individual freedom and fetal life, and that a majority of Americans favors keeping abortion legal in some but not all circumstances. Although most Americans are wary of allowing the government to ban abortion, they are also supportive of restrictions that would make abortions more difficult to obtain. The authors show important differences in the attitudes of Americans based on age, education, religion, and race, and explain who supports and opposes legal abortion and why. The authors also illustrate the increasingly important role abortion plays in national and state elections, arguing that voters will become even more focused on abortion as an issue if Roe is overturned.

This book examines the shape and direction of public attitudes toward abortion. It looks at the social and demographic basis of public opinion on the abortion issue. The book is also concerned with the consequences of abortion politics.

Using extensive analysis of survey data, the authors show that the American public values both individual freedom and fetal life, and that a majority of Americans favor keeping abortion legal in some but not all circumstances. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

A new perspective on how beliefs about abortion and gay rights reshaped American politics. Many believe that religious and partisan identities undergird American public opinion. However, when it comes to abortion and gay rights, the reverse may be closer to the truth. Drawing on wide-ranging evidence, Paul Goren and Christopher Chapp show that views on abortion and gay rights are just as durable and politically impactful—and often more so—than political and religious identities. Goren and Chapp locate the lasting strength of stances on abortion and gay rights in the automatic, visceral emotions that the media has primed since the late 1980s. Moral Issues examines how attitudes toward these moralized issues affect, and can sometimes even disrupt, religious and partisan identities. Indeed, over the last thirty years, these attitudes have accelerated the rise of the religious “nones,” who have no religious affiliation, and promoted moral sorting into the Democratic and Republican parties.

Demonstrates that individual state policies on abortion closely reflect public opinion in that state and affect abortion rates, whereas national policy and policy changes have no real effect on abortion rates.