i'm not sure because it's been over ten years, but i did some stats research on the issue. the questions as you asked them (personal beliefs v. public policy desires) were posed and, as i recall, there were no race, gender, race, or religious (protestant, jew, catholic) differences. there was a slight difference in terms of education levels. what mattered most was religiosity and fundamentalism. the more religious, as measured by things like attendance, and fundamentalist, then the more apt was a person to say that they disapproved of legalized abortion and would ban it if they could.
however, as you probably know, it's really hard to get good data here because the sample sizes are too small once you break down by religious fundamentalism, race, and gender. whatever results i got weren't very reliable, so i couldn't investigate religious differences by race--in terms of public policy preferences.
i think the differences are statistically insignificant in the general issue of support for abortion. IIRC, they're changing rather rapidly. black women are only slightly less likely than white women, these days, to disapprove of abortion for themselves. which is to say, black women aren't saying, in large numbers, that they disapprove of abortion. but again, i'll have to check. haven't had time.
but again, big caveat: this is from memory. i looked for the research i did, but it must be buried in a box for moving. when i get a chance i'll check it out. one thing i have read recently is that attitudes among black women have been changing quite a bit since the mid-80s with regard to this issue. it still remains the case, though, that abortion isn't considered as much of a political concern since other issues--eugenics, sterilization, forced birth control, welfare policy--loom larger.
> > i'm curious, though, art. what about black men and
> > abortion?
>
>Obviously, since they're men, Patriarchy has fried at least
>a small portion of their brains, so there are going to be
>some, mostly those of the petit-bourgeoisie, who would
>support some legislation. However, in comparison to their
>white male counterparts, they're still vastly more
>liberal/progressive on the issue.
i was asking because you jumped from a general discussion of black people to a specific discussion of black women to illustrate a point. i don't happen to think that black men are any different from black women here. i figured it would support your argument. black men--at least those that i know--aren't any more likely to support legislation.
i found this (numbers below) which i thought was very interesting. and in direct contrast to joanna's claims about "their" women. while young black men appear (below) to support abortion less than white men, they haven't become as conservative as young white men over time. what was notable, to me, was that they aren't as possessive about women who want an abortion, despite a man's objections. which i think makes an important point, especially given that they are young men: more respect for women's personal independence. even Latinos attitudes stayed the same, even if they rate their approval lower. young whites, though, are getting more reactionary!
"Race Differences in Abortion Attitudes: Some Additional Circumstance All White Black Hispanic†
1988 1995 1988 1995 1988 1995 1988 1995
Total 2.77 2.52** 2.80 2.50** 2.68 2.61 2.64 2.50
rape 3.48 3.22** 3.52 3.21** 3.35 3.29 3.38 3.23 under age 15 2.98 2.60** 3.02 2.61** 2.79 2.66 2.87 2.48** health 3.60 3.44** 3.62 3.44** 3.55 3.44* 3.49 3.43 birth defects 2.72 2.50** 2.74 2.47** 2.56 2.57 2.79 2.59 can't afford 2.31 2.02** 2.31 1.97** 2.41 2.25 2.12 2.04 any reason 2.13 1.81** 2.18 1.81** 2.02 1.87 1.89 1.78 woman wants/ man does not 2.18 2.03** 2.23 2.00** 2.10 2.21 1.95 1.95
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ NOTE" * Difference between means is significant at p<.05. **Difference between means is significant at p<.01. †May be of any race. Notes :The question read “When is it all right for a woman to have an abortion?” and then gave the seven listed circumstances. Larger values cor-respond to higher levels of approval.
Public Opinion Quarterly. 54: 248-255. 1990.
>Art