Posted on 06/26/2003 4:19:43 AM PDT by rhema
A recent poll conducted by the pro-abortion Center for the Advancement of Women found something the authors didn't expect: a majority of American women take a pro-life position on abortion.
Only one-third (30%) say abortion should be generally available. Fifty-one percent took a pro-life position saying abortion should be illegal (17%) or restricted only to the rare cases of rape, incest or to prevent the death of the mother (34%).
(Source: Center for the Advancement of Women)
Faye Wattleton, president of the group, bemoaned the results of her own poll.
"There is significant and growing support for severe restrictions on abortion rights," Wattleton said.
The poll also found that keeping abortion legal was the next to last most important priority for women.
Fewer than half (41%) cite preserving abortion as a priority -- down from 49 percent in 2001. In comparison, 92% list domestic violence and assault as a primary concern. A close second (90%) is equal pay for equal work. Also of greater importance to women is the ability to take time off to care for family (74%), reducing drug & alcohol addiction (72%) and increasing women's study of math, science, and technology (66%).
This "is alarming news," the former Planned Parenthood president Wattleton said. "We are losing ground on many hard-won victories for women's rights, which could ambush the status that women have achieved."
Pro-life groups were pleased by the poll results and say they show women reject abortion.
"The poll clearly demonstrates that after 30 years of legal abortion, too many women know the truth -- either personally or from a friend or relative. Women in increasing numbers are rejecting the '70s notion that our right to education, participation in the workplace, our status in society or politics are linked to the idea that women have to pass as men in order to be equal," explained Feminists for Life President Serrin Foster.
"This polling data demonstrates that women are getting the message that abortion hurts women and is detrimental to women, families, and society," added Denise Burke, staff counsel with Americans United for Life. "Clearly, American women have rejected the mantra of abortion-on-demand advocated by pro-abortion forces."
"But, we must not congratulate ourselves yet," Burke told LifeNews.com. "We need to continue to educate the public about the danger of abortion and the damage that 30 years of abortion on demand has wrought."
The son of the founder of a leading national pollster said the results were not far off the marl. Those findings on abortion do not surprise pollster George Gallup Jr. ''We pretty much show the same thing.''
According to Wattleton, the poll showed that women, by a 2-1 margin, believed the Supreme Court would not overturn Roe v. Wade.
The study, is the result of two national random surveys of more than 3,300 women, and was conducted over two years by Princeton Survey Research Associates. The margin of error is 2 to 3 percentage points.
"We are losing ground on many hard-won victories for women's rights, which could ambush the status that women have achieved."
So tell me Faye, what status are we talking about? That of selfish, cold-blooded murders?
Although I am pro life (partial birth abortions changed me REAL quick)this is hardly an unbiased orginazation doing the reporting.
[Wattleton in the interview] "Now, a lot of the polls have said, yes, we have found an erosion of support for abortion rights, but what makes this poll unique is that we asked women what restrictions would you find acceptable. And 51 percent of women said that either no abortions at all or only in the cases of saving the life of the woman, rape or incest."
That's where she blew it and inadvertently admitted truth into the normally euphemistic, fairly meaningless pro-abortion polling process.
But there's still work to be done; the culture of death won't readily capitulate to the growing culture of life, as Wattleton demonstrates in her CNN interview with Woodruff: "Well, I think that what has happened is that the anti-abortion message has gotten through to a lot of women. And those of us who have worked very hard to preserve choice for women who want to continue their pregnancy [pro-aborts are absolutely Clintonesque liars, aren't they], as well as women who want to end it, need to get through a message that this is not about restricting the choices of women but enabling women to have that choice with their doctor's consent and in the best interest of their health."
Lie. Lie. Lie. It's about convenience. That's it. Get pregnant. Don't want it. Abort. I've seen several studies, which I'm too academically lazy to cite, that point to increased health risks for women who've undergone abortion... not just the immediate risks of the surgery, but longer-term risks like breast cancer.
I could stand the debate a little better if it were based on the truth, and not lies. Pro-choicers: Just come right out and say it. It's about being able to live your life as you want to, and if it means offing an unborn child, so be it. Let's have the debate center on that truth.
I saw a very similiar survey result years ago that one local paper pronounced "Most Women Oppose Abortion" while another local paper anounced "Most Women Support Abortion."
The logic of the pro-abort article, using the above results for example, was that 17% feel abortion should be illegal while 64% feel abortion should be available with restrictions.
I'll be surprised if these results are not treated the same way.
As the Alan Guttmacher Institute has noted in Facts in Brief: Abortion in the United States, 2000 (Scroll down the page for poll results).
Yeah, it is well established that most people are pro-life. However, some of those pro-lifers consider themsleves 'Pro-Choice' because they do favor abortion in cases of rape and life of mother. It is really a spin game the Democrats have been winning. People are much much closer to the GOP position on abortion, but many identify with with a Pro-choice lable. The GOP would be wise to include the life of mother in their abortion plank, IMHO, to get more people to readily accept the GOP position on this issue.
The only abortion polls you can really trust to judge the opinon of the American people are those that explicitly break out the situations where a person would want abortion to be legal and such polls are much more pro-life than many people are led to believe.
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