There is a great deal of literature that tries to explain why there are opposing views of abortion in the United States and other countries. The literature cited below helps to explain the variances of beliefs and public opinion. ‘Public Ideas and Public Policy’, written by Yael Yishai in 1993 lists religion, social welfare, libertarianism, and demographics as reasons people have different perspectives about abortion.
Many countries in today 's world see some sense of religiosity which sways its population toward specific ideas of right and wrong. United States is no exception. To help explain this influence of religion, Yael Yishai writes of a term called “public ideas”. He defines it as “a set of durable beliefs having broad scope that …show more content…
(216) Americans have a strong sense of freedom and individual rights given to us from the Constitution. Americans believe that one has the right to protect oneself, to speak freely, and the freedom and right to do as one wishes with their body. The argument is that society should not impose its views on an individual. No one, some might say, has the right to say what is best for someone else’s personal situation. Sarah Gitlin writes that “if the timing of a woman’s life is wrong or it her partner is wrong, that child could reasonably cut her off from the ability to participate equally in modern life.” (Opposing Views; Abortion-Texas is Lying; Unmasking Their Motives and Protecting Women’s Autonomy) The conclusion one draws from the social welfare argument is that if abortion negatively impacts a woman’s life, it is society 's role to show compassion and allow abortion as an accepted and promoted way for …show more content…
The gallup analysis shows that Republicans are more anti-abortion than do Democrats. The reason for this is that 51% of the Republicans polled for the Gallup study acknowledged their weekly or near weekly attendance at religious services. At the other end of the spectrum are non- church going Democrats of which only 8% believe abortion should be illegal in all circumstances. The poll also said that 37% of Democrats polled are weekly or near weekly church-goers. If, however, there are religious people from either the Democrat or Republican party, both are similarly anti-abortion. These polls are a clear indication that religiosity influences public policy. Another demographic analyzed is the effects of a socio-economic status on abortion. The Guttmacher Institute presented an article that gave statistics from 2000-2001 on whether poverty affects the rate of abortion. They determined that “As income increased, pregnancy rates declined, and women with the highest incomes had a pregnancy rate of 66 per 1,000. These women were the least likely to abort their pregnancies (15%) and poor and low-income women were most likely to do so (33%).” A final demographic which plays a role is gender. Religion, political party beliefs, and socio-economic status are all an influence on gender. An article titled: Do Men and Women View Abortion Differently?’,
Many countries in today 's world see some sense of religiosity which sways its population toward specific ideas of right and wrong. United States is no exception. To help explain this influence of religion, Yael Yishai writes of a term called “public ideas”. He defines it as “a set of durable beliefs having broad scope that …show more content…
(216) Americans have a strong sense of freedom and individual rights given to us from the Constitution. Americans believe that one has the right to protect oneself, to speak freely, and the freedom and right to do as one wishes with their body. The argument is that society should not impose its views on an individual. No one, some might say, has the right to say what is best for someone else’s personal situation. Sarah Gitlin writes that “if the timing of a woman’s life is wrong or it her partner is wrong, that child could reasonably cut her off from the ability to participate equally in modern life.” (Opposing Views; Abortion-Texas is Lying; Unmasking Their Motives and Protecting Women’s Autonomy) The conclusion one draws from the social welfare argument is that if abortion negatively impacts a woman’s life, it is society 's role to show compassion and allow abortion as an accepted and promoted way for …show more content…
The gallup analysis shows that Republicans are more anti-abortion than do Democrats. The reason for this is that 51% of the Republicans polled for the Gallup study acknowledged their weekly or near weekly attendance at religious services. At the other end of the spectrum are non- church going Democrats of which only 8% believe abortion should be illegal in all circumstances. The poll also said that 37% of Democrats polled are weekly or near weekly church-goers. If, however, there are religious people from either the Democrat or Republican party, both are similarly anti-abortion. These polls are a clear indication that religiosity influences public policy. Another demographic analyzed is the effects of a socio-economic status on abortion. The Guttmacher Institute presented an article that gave statistics from 2000-2001 on whether poverty affects the rate of abortion. They determined that “As income increased, pregnancy rates declined, and women with the highest incomes had a pregnancy rate of 66 per 1,000. These women were the least likely to abort their pregnancies (15%) and poor and low-income women were most likely to do so (33%).” A final demographic which plays a role is gender. Religion, political party beliefs, and socio-economic status are all an influence on gender. An article titled: Do Men and Women View Abortion Differently?’,