[lbo-talk] Teixeira: It's clearly a pro-life country

Michael Pollak mpollak at panix.com
Wed Nov 9 13:29:44 PST 2005


[This is an interesting tack. Normally if you ask people their position on abortion, the answers are ambiguous and overlapping and discouraging. Here, when they ask about what side they identify with -- pro-life or pro-choice -- and whether Roe v. Wade should be overturned -- the real point at issue -- the results seem surprisingly stark and encouraging]

http://www.tcf.org/list.asp?type=NC&pubid=1134#prochoice

Public Opinion Watch

November 9, 2005

Ruy Teixeira, The Century Foundation, 11/9/2005

<snip>

It's Definitely a Pro-Choice, Pro-Roe v. Wade Country

Lest we harbor any doubt about that, as debate on the Alito Supreme

Court nomination heats up, consider these data.

1. In a SurveyUSA fifty-state poll, 56 percent nationwide described

themselves as pro-choice, compared to 38 percent who said they were

pro-life.

http://www.surveyusa.com/50State2005/50StateAbortion0805SortedbyProLife.htm

Only thirteen states were pro-life; the rest were

pro-choice and include Pennsylvania (+7), Michigan (+13), Montana

(+11), Ohio (+10), Iowa (+15), Arizona (+17), Minnesota (+17), New

Mexico (+17), Wisconsin (+18), Florida (+22), Colorado (+27),

Oregon (+29) and Nevada (+32).

2. In a recent Gallup poll, the public, by 53 percent to 37

percent, said the Senate should not confirm Alito if it was likely

he would vote to overturn Roe v. Wade.

3. The Pew poll cited above asked two slightly versions of a

question on whether Roe v. Wade should be overturned. The replies

averaged 61 percent to 29 percent against overturning Roe v. Wade.

4. In Washington Post/ABC News poll cited above, 64 percent said

that, if a case testing Roe v. Wade came before the Supreme Court,

the Court should vote to uphold it, compared to just 31 percent who

believe the Court should vote to overturn it.

Pretty clear data. We'll see if the message gets through.

Ruy Teixeira is a Senior Fellow at The Century Foundation and the

Center for American Progress. The views expressed in this article are

solely those of the author. Click here to sign up to receive weekly

e-mails of POW.

Copyright 2005 The Century Foundation.



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