Saturday, May 16, 2009
Gallup poll on abortion
A recent Gallup Poll reported that 51% of Americans identify themselves as "Pro-Life," and 49% as "Pro-Choice." But the results do not divide Americans over the legality of abortion as strongly as the poll suggests.
Only 22% of respondents said that abortion should be illegal under all circumstances, which shows that the term "Pro-Life" is not synonymous with anti-abortion. Surely most Americans are pro-life, including those who are pro-choice, because human instinct honors the livelihood of its kind.
America's division over abortion is trapped under the semantics of "Pro-Life" and "Pro-Choice"; the terms force Americans to categorize themselves into benevolent, life-loving protectors, or civil rights-advocating, baby-hating villains. Future polls could identify Americans viewpoints more accurately by omitting misleading terminology.
Due to the ambiguous semantics over individual identification surrounding the abortion issue, it's not surprising that Pro-Choice America's President Nancy Keenan specified that the poll didn't reflect “the voting patterns in the last two elections cycles."
Only 22% of respondents said that abortion should be illegal under all circumstances, which shows that the term "Pro-Life" is not synonymous with anti-abortion. Surely most Americans are pro-life, including those who are pro-choice, because human instinct honors the livelihood of its kind.
America's division over abortion is trapped under the semantics of "Pro-Life" and "Pro-Choice"; the terms force Americans to categorize themselves into benevolent, life-loving protectors, or civil rights-advocating, baby-hating villains. Future polls could identify Americans viewpoints more accurately by omitting misleading terminology.
Due to the ambiguous semantics over individual identification surrounding the abortion issue, it's not surprising that Pro-Choice America's President Nancy Keenan specified that the poll didn't reflect “the voting patterns in the last two elections cycles."
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