Forced Childbirth--What The Data Says

by Paul Rosenberg, Fri Jan 13, 2006 at 10:49:08 AM EST

Again, spinning off from a front-page story by Matt--because the data is too damn significant.

Summary: While individuals can certainly have all sorts of different views, statistical surveys can tell us a great deal about what mass movements and their constituencies are really all about.  And in this case, the evidence is overwhelming: those who profess anti-abortion attitudes are not consistent in their beliefs.  They are consistent, however, if they are regarded as being for forced childbirth.

The General Social Survey has asked questions about abortion, sex education and birth control for a long time now.  Running a quick-and-dirty comparison between the sex ed/birth control measures and three cumulative abortion measures shows a consistent correlation between anti-abortion positions and opposition to sex education and birth control.

The three birth conrol measures are:
PILL: 213. A. In some places in the United States, it is not legal to   supply birth control information. How do you feel about this--do  you think birth control information should be available to anyone who wants it, or not?

And:

TEENPILL: B. Do you think birth control information should be available to teenagers who want it, or not?

And:

PILLOK: C. Do you strongly agree, agree, disagree, or strongly disagree that methods of birth control should be available to teenagers between the ages of 14 and 16 if their parents do not approve?

The sex ed measure is:

214. Would you be for or against sex education in the public schools?

The three abortion measures are combined totals:

AbThreat measures support for abortion in the cases of "STRONG CHANCE OF SERIOUS DEFECT,""WOMANS HEALTH SERIOUSLY ENDANGERED," or "PREGNANT AS RESULT OF RAPE."

AbAutonomy measures support for abortion in the cases of "ABORTION IF WOMAN WANTS FOR ANY REASON,""MARRIED--WANTS NO MORE CHILDREN,""LOW INCOME--CANT AFFORD MORE CHILDREN," or "NOT MARRIED."

AbTot is a combined total of AbThreat and AbAutonomy. Since the results for AbThreat and AbAutonomy have the same valence, I leave out the AbTot data as repetitive.

The R values for the remaining cross-tabs are as follows:

    ABTHREAT/ PILL: R =     .24
    ABTHREAT/TEENPILL: R =     .24    
    ABTHREAT/PILLOK: R =     .26    
    ABTHREAT/SEXEDUC: R =     .25

    ABAUTONOMY/PILL: R =     .20
    ABAUTONOMY/TEENPILL: R =     .24
    ABAUTONOMY/PILLOK: R =     .31
    ABAUTONOMY/SEXEDUC: R =     .21

Obviously, if the aim was to prevent abortions, those who are anti-abortion would tend to favor sex ed and birth control--at least as much as those who are pro-choice. But, in fact, they tend to oppose them more often on a consistent basis.  This is true both for abortions where choice is most salient, and where it is not.

Please note: this is a study of correlations.  The vast majority of people on both sides of the abortion debate favor sex education and birth control--except for girls aged 13-16, which is the only place where anti-abortion majorities oppose birth control outright.  

But the pattern of attitudes is consistent even where a majority of those opposing abortion supports means of avoiding unwanted pregnancy: they are significantly less supportive of such methods than are those who support abortion rights.

Thus, the conclusion is inescapable: while many individuals may be sincerely anti-abortion, the movement as a whole is not.  The only consistent explanation of the anti-abortion position as a whole is that it is pro-forced childbirth. It is a movement to rob women of control over their bodies, regardless of what many of its supporters may sincerely intend.

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4 Comments

Shadow_head_small
Freedom Of Choice vs. Coerced Child Birth
That's the frame that appeals to me. Our position is a libertarian one that allows every man, woman and child in America to make their own informed decision about their own health care decisions.

Their position is one that coerces every man, woman and child in America to accept whatever their position is on the issue du jour or be branded as immoral.

Our position is based on liberty and freedom of conscience. Their position is based on a paternalistic state and guilt.

by Gary Boatwright 2006-01-13 12:09PM | 0 recs
Shadow_head_small
Many of Us Have Been Saying This For A Long Time
But this is solid proof that it's true.  

It's not the only proof, of course.  But it's particularly powerful. The GSS is pretty much the gold standard when it comes to public opinion research.

by Paul Rosenberg 2006-01-13 12:23PM | 0 recs
Shadow_head_small
We Have Been Saying This For A Long Time
Which brings us back to the same old problem that the Democratic leadership is more interested in pandering to "perceived centrists" than they are in fighting back against theocratic fascists.
by Gary Boatwright 2006-01-13 02:59PM | 0 recs
Shadow_head_small
On the mathematics

Alright, we are Mydd'ers, we should be able to google out the Valence, and R Value.

As a writer, your quality standard is usually high -  you're usually able to express yourself without using technical definitions that rely on the reader to sail away from what you're writing.  

, first.
What is it you're saying?
What is AbTot,. To begin with -

It seems that here, you're calculating AbTot as
the comibnation of

A)  support for abortion in the cases of "STRONG CHANCE OF SERIOUS DEFECT," "WOMANS HEALTH SERIOUSLY ENDANGERED," or "PREGNANT AS RESULT OF RAPE."

and

B) support for abortion in the cases of "ABORTION IF WOMAN WANTS FOR ANY REASON," "MARRIED--WANTS NO MORE CHILDREN," "LOW INCOME--CANT AFFORD MORE CHILDREN," or "NOT MARRIED."

This is the one I want to focus on.  Esp. the first line of (B) which states "abortion for any reason".

This is where I kind of fall away a bit.  Suppose a mother thinks her kid is going to have down's syndrome.  - She would fall under category (A).
Then, of course, she would also fall under category (B).

In fact, wouldn't all people considering an abortion just fall under category (B)?

Since its for any reason, and the reasons above, in (A) are extremely confidential and most people wouldn't disclose them anyway - why not look at just (B)/

Do the numbers work out the same way?

by turnerbroadcasting 2006-01-14 04:10AM | 0 recs

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