How Do Americans Really Feel About Abortion?

[cali]

Damned if I know. Every time I get into it with a fundy, I pull polls from polling report to bolster my argument that Americans support a woman's right to choose, but there is conflicting informatrion. Americans say they don't want Roe overturned but they're supportive of greater restrictions on abortion access. It's just hard to tell how firm the support for Roe really is. I suspect that most Americans don't understand what Roe guarantees.


I think both sides are erring tactically. I know I'm going to get flamed for saying this, but I think that we may have to make some adjustments. Should, for example, states be allowed to ban abortion after the first trimester as long as there were exceptions for the health of the mother, including mental health?

[mdmc]

1. yucky

safe and rare... that is what I think about abortion.

[mwb970]

2. Safe, legal, and rare. (n/t)

[rodeodance]

7. thats the Dem slogan (vis Hil Clinton)

[seabeyond]

3. i posted under texas thread, working on repug race, pro life

i ask what are the talking points i need to know. she talked abortion. said this woman is pro life. i was so angry at those words thrown at me. like i am anti life i tell the girl

i asked what other issues, property tax?, education?, health care? pro life issues

she tells me no, just abortion. i tell her, what a sick world the repug party sits in. all the mess we are in and the ONLY issue is abortion

talked to catholic friend a weeks ago,.... all about abortion.

i tell her just ban the damn thing, and then maybe we will take care of all the zillion of other issues out there.

but..... i concluded wouldnt stop there. it isnt about just abortion. it is about christian faith running all our worlds. a take over. if it isnt this, it is going to be another. birth control. women independent rights beyond a husband. it isnt going to stop

so.... i dont know

[michiganbuckeye1970]

14. I agree

On those rare occasions when I let my guard down to debate the abortion issue with a few of my conservative friends, I always end up telling them that the anti-choice group would have been able to help out a lot of people with all the money they've spent opposing the right of a woman to choose.

But that is not what they are interested in...what they are interested in is exerting their will onto the masses.

It's about making sure women are punished for their sins by having to go through with all unwanted pregnancies.

I, too, think abortions are rare. No woman sets out on their life journey to hopefully have an abortion some day.

The Christian fundamentalists have traded in love and compassion for judgment and fear.

Now, though, we will see how things are going to play out. South Dakota and Mississippi have taken the so-called bull by the horns and passed legislation out-lawing abortion. I think the timing couldn't be better for those of us who support choice. I thought for sure with the SC changes and a big congressional election followed by a presidential election, the anti-choice groups would sit back on their heels for a couple of years. This latest development will force politicians to more thoroughly explain their positions on abortion. I also think that it could be a swing issue for the centrists crowd.

Time will tell.

[seabeyond]

15. i am right there with you. lets get into it, now.... a point made yest.

in a thread. a perspective i hadnt even thought about. males telling me abortion bad.... women should not spread leg, totally ignoring their role in pregnancy. it is all woman responsibility and fault. dna.... child support. wont that be fuckin up their world as child support is garnished from their wages for 18 years. i have been looking for the point where this would effect male. this is it

[skipos]

4. According to CNN exit polls, here are what the voters think...

ABORTION SHOULD BE...
Always Legal (21%)
Mostly Legal (34%)
Mostly Illegal (26%)
Always Illegal (16%)

And my feeling is that, of the 45% of eligible Americans who didn't vote, most of them have been taking their rights for granted. I think what is happening in Dakothanger is going to bring them out to vote.

[cali]

8. I agree, SD will wake people up

but the CNN poll is just one among many. There is conflict data. Yes, people want Roe upheld, but the flip side appears to be that the majority wants greater restrictions.

[triguy46]

5. As with many things, blind self interest...

Forgetting the hard line, South Dakota supporting extremists, I believe many who oppose, would quickly change if they perceived the need for (fill in the blank): girlfriend, wife, mistress, daughter, self. This parallels the feelings on tort reform: We want to limit others ability to litigate, but if its my: baby, wife, mom, then by god I'm suing for a zillion dollars. Selfishness, shortsightedness, greed, all blind the individual with poorly constructed/developed beliefs.

[johncoby2]

6. NO ONE is in favor of abortion.

I believe it is the woman's decision.
It should be safe.
And it should be rare because we are working to understand the causes of unwanted pregnancy and preventing them.

Unfortunately the republicans idea is nothing more than duct tape and praying.

[0007]

10. Good post!

[slide to the left]

9. Way pro choice

But I CHOOSE never to have one. I did, however, take a friend to the clinic.

The right wants to give the impression that women go and get pg just to get an abortion. Its really a traumatic experience that any one who has gone through wishes they were never put in that position.

[cali]

11. Let me bust that myth

I had an abortion and didn't find it traumatic. I've known quite a few women who agree. It was something I had done, had no qualms about and went on with my life. It just wasn't a big deal.

[slide to the left]

16. I just meant

that you don't get pg to have an abortion. Its not a situation you get into on purpose. And I agree, the day my friend found out she was pg was way worse than they day we went to the clinic.

[KittyWampus]

18. Cali, I think for some the hormonal imbalance plays a very real role

in our experience of an abortion.

For some it might have more of an effect like depression then others.

However, would we suggest that women not give birth because it may lead to post partum depression?

Perhaps those who go to have an abortion should be forewarned that their hormones will be effected and it may or may not cause some emotional upset... "please contact us if you feel" bla bla bla...

[LisaLynne]

21. That's a very good point about post partum.

Or, similarly, a hysterectomy. Nobody would refuse to have a hysterectomy if they needed it because (if they remove the ovaries) you might have some hormonal changes.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

12. I Think Roe Makes A Lot of Sense Actually

The way Roe V. Wade laid things out is pretty consistent with my view that abortion should be legal up to the point of viability, that is when the fetus is physically able to live outside the mother's womb UNLESS continuing the pregnancy would jeopardize the health/well-being of the mother or if the fetus is determined to have SUBSTANTIAL life-threatening/impairing defects and the parents decide it would be in the (potential) child's best interests to discontinue the pregnancy. I don't belive that there should really be any other restrictions on abortion as they seem designed to frustrate women seeking abortions more than trying to look out for the best interests of women. I'm o.k. if Right-to-Life groups want to (peacefully and non-coercively) share their viewpoint with everybody else, however I don't believe that anybody should be in the business of writing laws that seek to control other people's private sexual/reproductive activities.

[LisaLynne]

13. The overall data I've seen ...

seems to agree with what you've seen. People don't want to ban all abortions, but they do support (very mildly) greater restrictions. I think that comes from a wildly distorted view of what is actually going on. People seem to assume that abortions are used as "birth control", meaning that women could have just used birth control to prevent the pregnancy in the first place. They also think it is much more common and much easier to obtain than it is. In my highly populated county, there is ONE -- that's right, count it -- ONE abortion clinic. I think people who want greater restrictions think there is a clinic on every corner.

The truth of the matter is that an abortion is, to me, too difficult to obtain for the majority of women, but I don't think many people understand that. They think it is easy, wildly available. I wonder if these people really know how difficult it is, if they wouldn't be in favor of more restrictions. I think they are in favor of them based on their faulty idea of what it's really like.

[elehhhhna]

19. the stats on late (2nd trimester) elective abortion are interesting:

The vast majority of abortions delayed until the 2nd trimester are due to two factors: The age of the mother (young women not telling parents they're pregnant in a timely manner) and LACK OF FUNDS. Yep. It takes time to save that couple hundred dollars.

[LisaLynne]

20. That's a very interesting stat and ...

exactly what I mean. People tend to think that "late term" abortions are because of what? Laziness? Indecision? But, no, that's not the case at all. People have so many prejudices and ideas that bang around in their heads that they don't even realize they have and that are so far from what is the actual case. It's about educating the public, but also about getting them to look past their assumptions and what the corporate media and the right wing wants them to think and seeing the reality.

[KittyWampus]

17. Americans have been lied to by the fanatics who say late term abortions

happen. They already are illegal. You can't go to a clinic and get an abortion at 6 months.

That is part of the sickness of idiots whipping the "partial birth abortion" debate frenzy.

[sadiesworld]

22. I tend to agree with you.

I feel that much of the fanaticism regarding reproductive control, etc. could have been avoided with a ban (w/ exceptions) on abortion after the first trimester. We also may have avoided the consent laws, waiting periods, clinic closures, etc. The fundies will never be satisfied, of course, but I really question whether they would have had any muscle w/o the mainstream squeamishness over 2nd (and largely non-existent 3rd) term abortion.

My recollection from studying this issue some time ago is that Roe is actually quite liberal when compared to the rest of the western world.

At the very least, the whole issue needs (needed?) to be addressed more effectively by dems and pro-choicers.