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Mark Shields: Shrinking Support for Abortion Rights
Feminist author and activist Gloria Steinem argued that abortion was “the moral equivalent of a tonsillectomy” and that the human fetus was nothing more than a “mass of dependent protoplasm.” If Steinem’s stated views ever enjoyed popular support, they emphatically do not do so today.
In fact, according to a recent poll by the respected Pew Research Center, the lopsided majority margin (57 percent to 37 percent) by which Americans said, a little more than a year ago, that abortion should be legal rather than illegal in most or all cases has now shrunk to thin 47 percent to 44 percent plurality supporting abortion rights.
Earlier, a Gallup Poll in May found that — even with a pro-abortion-rights Democrat in the White House and robust Democratic majorities in both the House and Senate — for the first time since the question had been asked, a 51 percent majority of Americans called themselves “pro-life” on the abortion issue, while 42 percent self-identified as “pro-choice.”
Scott Keeter, director of research at Pew, perceives real “ambivalence” on the part of the poll’s respondents on the thorny question of abortion.
Truth be told, American voters are complicated people whose consensus position, if there actually is one, on this divisive issue might best be described as simultaneously “pro-choice” and “anti-abortion.” That is, there is no substantial popular support for prosecuting or imprisoning a woman who after consulting her conscience, her spiritual counselor or physician decides to seek an abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy.
But by a landslide 65 percent to 26 percent number, Americans now say it would be good to reduce the number of abortions performed in this country — a 13 percent increase since 2005.
Similarly, by a 4-to-1 margin (76 percent to 19 percent), Americans endorse requiring women younger than 18 to obtain the consent of at least one parent before getting an abortion.
Support for the position that abortion should be legal in all or most cases dropped in every age group among both genders in the past year, except one — males ages 18 to 29. Only a cynic would point out that males ages 18 to 29 are the group most likely to be directly involved in an unplanned pregnancy — and therefore face either being legally required to pony up 18 years of child support or, maybe, sharing the one-time cost of an abortion. That just might explain this male age cohort’s unflagging support for abortion rights!
The issue of abortion has receded in urgency. Just 15 percent of Americans now deem abortion to be a critical issue facing the country, a drop from the 28 percent who thought so in 2006. Three years ago, 34 percent of liberal Democrats saw abortion as a critical issue. Today, with Democrats controlling Washington, just 8 percent of liberal Democrats see it as a critical issue.
As the political maxim teaches: When the economy is bad, the economy is the only issue.
One additional reason, cited by Keeter, is the near-universality of sonograms. It is hard to use the clinical terms embryo and fetus — or to compare abortion to an appendectomy — when one can see the hands, head and toes of a baby.
Still, two out of three Americans believe “the country needs to find a middle ground on abortion laws.” One positive initiative is the Pregnant Women Support Act, sponsored by Rep. Lincoln Davis, D-Tenn., and Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., which could reduce the number of abortions by fully funding the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children; provide counseling and shelter to women in abusive relationships; provide nurse home-visit programs for pregnant and new mothers under Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program; and help pregnant women stay in school, prepare for college or vocational training and learn parenting skills.
Yes, there is a price tag. But if we’re serious about finding common ground on abortion, it’s a good start.
— Mark Shields is one of the most widely recognized political commentators in the United States. The former Washington Post editorial columnist appears regularly on CNN, on public television and on radio. Click here to contact him.
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» on 10.04.09 @ 06:53 PM
MARK - Are you and I watching the same C-SPAN2 cable channel, which telecasts ‘live’ US Senate proceedings & committee ‘mark-up’ sessions? The outcome on “abortion rights” [sic.!] shall most likely NOT(!) be decided by EITHER quoting long out-of-favor comments from MS. Gloria Steinhem OR an un-scientific ‘poll’ of young males ages 18-29! CAPISH?
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» on 10.04.09 @ 07:14 PM
CONCLUSION from the cited Pew Research poll = Members of Congress reflect a decidedly “pro-life bent” because our citizens are FINALLY reflecting their “sprituality” [see the “Parade Magazine” insert poll in Sunday newspapers - Oct 4th]! Such an evolving view also reflects the deceasing aceptance of ‘nihilism’ as an acceptd public policy standard among our elected representatives. PEOPLE KNOW THIS! Congress is - belatedly - finally reflecting it! The citizens are also rightfully tired of the Liberal Democrats’ blatant “double standard” on elected officials’ behavior = (#1) When House WAYS & MEANS COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN - Charlie Rangel - can avoid censure & removal from office, by his peers, for ethical and financial misdeeds; (#2) then House leaders such as (a) Mrs. Nancy Pelosi and (b) also Steny Hoyer can avoid accountability for questioning the patriotism of any one challenging a health-care program, whose details are still not clear! WHERE’s THW OUTRATE? Certainly NOT in the liberal media. Even Fox News’ young anchors focus on only the appearances, rather than the substance of multi-billion dollar policy issues! They smile endlessly! THEY DON’T UNDERSTAND THE ISSUES! It is simply beyond their comprehension, even with some holding alleged graduate degrees as prerequisites to just mechanically “read the news”! VISIBLY ABSENT - Critical thinking skills on both sides of the partisan spectrum, but especially in House and Senate leaderships - both of which continue to show actual early symptoms of brain death on the job! Send in a Medi-Care doctor to check their “vital signs” for any actual life, please?
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» on 10.05.09 @ 10:11 AM
Abortion is not a “right” just like murder is not a “right”. I am offended by the suggestion. God created that baby, not Mommy. I don’t think Mommy went to genetics school long enough to be able create such a wonder. Even if she did, it wouldn’t have a soul attached to it.
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» on 10.05.09 @ 04:23 PM
What is being reflected in the polls is a realization that scraping a fetus out of a womb is just not a moral solution to fornicating for no apparent reason other than it “feels good”. Yes there are legitimate reasons, medical reasons, for an abortion. But since most are done because of the inconvenience of procreation after sex, the urgency becomes a bit shallow or as Dave put it nihilistic.
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