Fri 15 May 2009
Still Moving Pro-Life
Posted by DSW under Culture , Demographics , Polls , Sanctity of Life[4] Comments
For some time I’ve been asserting that the country is moving pro-life based on simple demographics. And although a majority of Americans voted for the most pro-abortion president in history, that vote was not driven by pro-life values but rather economic self-preservation.
Today, Gallup released results of a poll stating the obvious – the country is moving pro-life. Gallup states,
A new Gallup Poll, conducted May 7-10, finds 51% of Americans calling themselves “pro-life” on the issue of abortion and 42% “pro-choice.” This is the first time a majority of U.S. adults have identified themselves as pro-life since Gallup began asking this question in 1995.
Much of this attitude shift is due to an unmasking of the ugly and horrific Obama abortion agenda among middle-of-the-road voters: taxpayer funding of organizations who promote abortion overseas, taxpayer funding of destructive embryonic experimentation (which has already been determined ineffective compared to adult stem cell research), the pursuit of the so-called Freedom of Choice Act, opposition to the Born-Alive Infant Protection Act and the list goes on…
Fundamentally, the country is switching and there are a number of reasons.
First, the pro-life movement has made tremendous strides in educating the public on the issue. Whether this has been through promoting an adoration and respect for innocent human life through the culture (music and film), through teaching basic human development and embryology in the classroom, or by simply stigmatizing the abortion industry.
Second, this is a battle of attrition. Let’s face it, pro-lifers are having children and “pro-choicers” are not. Those values are being passed on to their children and as I’ve said, its creating a red-diaper culture. This is especially prevalent among faith-based groups which hold a strong respect for life: Evangelicals, Catholics and Muslims. Think about it. As those with less or no religious views (typically pro-choice) have fewer children and those who have strong religious views have more children, the value of respect for life becomes more concentrated or diluted on their respective sides.
The good news is that time is on the side of the pro-life movement. The law will finally catch up to the science. Eventually the culture will shift not just based on the pure science of the issue, but it will also be reinforced by the faith factor. And one day, we will live in a country in which all human life is respected regardless of age, location or human development.
May 15th, 2009 at 4:50 pm
It would be interesting to see if the poll asks pro-life converts why they are now pro life. I’m guessing that not many people would admit to being convinced by the “pro life movement.” Conservatism in general has fallen flat because of the lack of good articulate spokespeople on a national level, but luckily, on this one issue we now have an “unfair advantage”…ultrasound. Anyone who has seen one in the last 5-10 years can tell you how awesome of an experience it is. Being able to count your unborn child’s fingers after only a few weeks really helps you understand what is at stake. Seeing him or her smile doesn’t hurt either! As the technology improves even more, I would expect this trend to continue.
As for attrition, I agree that this will work in our favor, but I find it hard to believe that it has made a large difference in 12 short years.
May 15th, 2009 at 7:09 pm
“Pro-life versus pro-choice” is a horrible polling question. There’s a middle ground to abortion, where most Americans are. The Gallup poll found that in it’s second question, wherein 53% of Americans think abortion should be legal in some cases. The other two choices to that question were illegal in all cases or legal in all cases. Those two categories were just about split evenly.
These numbers have been relatively static: http://www.gallup.com/poll/118399/More-Americans-Pro-Life-Than-Pro-Choice-First-Time.aspx (look at the second graph)
The only thing that has changed is the perception of what “pro-life” and “pro-choice” mean.
May 16th, 2009 at 12:48 am
I still reserve a healthy distrust of statistics and polls, including this one, but I’d agree time is on the side of pro-life (although it may not be all they want). Women I’ve been around, who would otherwise might be considered “liberal” on “women’s issues,” have not felt comfortable with abortion on demand for quite a while now.
Interesting, as people get to know more about the actual process of carrying a child through science and technology, the more re-attached they finally become to the human process. The dehumanizing of abortion down to a clinic medical procedure could only be stuffed away from consciences for so long.
May 17th, 2009 at 5:32 am
I think the idea that most women who get abortions treat the situation like a typical clinical medical procedure is bunk. It’s a heavy decision, for a lack of better words and that’s why a lot of people wouldn’t get one themselves, but damn sure don’t want it criminalized or banned.