[Fwd: Re: Abortion in Europe and US]

[Katha Pollitt <kpollitt@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Andrew Wayne Austin wrote:
>
> Public opinion polls generally show a shift in opinion over abortion in
> favor of restrictions. The polls have been widely publicized by the media
> recently. Reproductive freedom is threatened.
>
> I don't at all believe that opponents of abortion are a minority. I
> predict the attitudes will continue to shift rightward as the New Right
> historical bloc continues to solidify.
>
> It may serve an ideological purpose to claim that opponents of
> reproductive freedom are a minority, but if ideologues really believe
> this line it can lead to complacency.
>

  For a different view of what the public opinion polls actually say,
see Slate, which had a piece analyzing what various polls actually ask.
The author argues that the widespread perception that support for legal
abortion is declining is spin.
  I have a lot of questions myself about one of the most publicized of
recent polls, done by Faye Wattleton's new organization, which is called
something like the Institute for Gender Equality, at i think Princeton.
That poll showed women dramatically increasing in conservatism,
religiosity, anti-feminist views. for example, it had more than half of
women saying the Christian Coalition was doing great things for women. I
found this hard to believe --  certainly it doesn't mirror voting
patterns.  so I wondered if the poll was skewed -- and indeed, i read
somewhere, it turns out that the women polled were disproportionately
"church leaders"!
  Abortion has always been a vexed issue. Some abortion restrictions
definitely have majority support -- parental notification, for instance,
is supported by (I think) seventy-five percent of respondents, including
many pro-choicers.  Banning "partial-birth abortion" is also popular
(although that issue is almost entirely spin, so it's hard to know what
people are actually saying when they say they favor banning it). But
mostly those bans have been overturned in court. Restrictions on public
funding also have support, especially when (as in Michigan referendum,
which passed) it's phrased as a cost-cutting measure. Other
anti-abortion positions are unpopular and becoming more so -- just read
a poll in which 60 percent of coloradans support unrestricted
first-trimester abortion, that's up from around 52% (I think) over the
decade. Nonetheless, the governor of Colorado has just cut off funding
to Planned Parenthood, which runs clinics in rural districts where other
health care is virtually nonexistent. So even if a poll is pro-choice,
that doesn't mean politicians go along.
  I don't think pro-choice "ideologues" minimize the seriousness of
opposition to abortion for a minute! Along with decline in access (a not
unrelated problem) It is a major concern of all the big groups -- PP,
NARAL, NOW. And a major theme of women columnists, writers, etc. Its
true that many ordinary pro-choicers are complacent -- that's because
the restrictions don't affect them and because they think Clinton will
protect them.
  But the other side is -- even the Republican party now recognizes
that  an absolute ban on abortion is a nonstarter, and that it has to
distance itself from the mad christians to win the presidency. The
classes that run the country -- the professional and business elites--
are pro-choice.  also,  Almost 40% of fertile women have actually had an
abortion -- and when you add in the people who helped them, that is a
huge number of people. Clinic violence has turned off huge numbers of
people -- I've met pro-lifers who've dropped out of activism because
they find the lambs of christ etc so appalling.
   for anyone who is interested in following reproductive health issues
on a daily basis, I recommend the Kaiser Family foundation  Daily
reproductive health Report, on line.

Katha