Changes in the Attitudinal Correlations of Opposition to Abortion, 1977-1985

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

6-1988

Publication Title

Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion

Volume

27

Issue

2

First page number:

211

Last page number:

228

Abstract

The relative importance of respect for human life and sexual conservatism as rationales for opposition to abortion is examined for three religious groups for the years 1977, 1982, and 1985. In general, Catholics, non-fundamentalist Protestants, and fundamentalist Protestants tend to oppose abortion because of respect for human life for the entire period. However, there exist in 1977 substantial differences in rationales for opposing elective abortion. In 1977, Catholics who oppose elective abortion tend to do so out of respect for life, while Protestants who oppose elective abortion tend to endorse a sexually conservative rationale. By 1985, all groups, except fundamentalists, oppose elective abortion due to considerations of sexual morality. For fundamentalists in 1985, considerations of life and sexual conservatism are of equal importance in explaining opposition to elective abortion.

Keywords

Abortion; Catholics; Conservativism; Evangelicalism; Pro-life movement; Protestants; Religion; Religion and politics; Sex; Sexual ethics

Disciplines

Catholic Studies | Political Science | Religion | Women's Studies

Language

English

Permissions

Use Find in Your Library, contact the author, or interlibrary loan to garner a copy of the item. Publisher policy does not allow archiving the final published version. If a post-print (author's peer-reviewed manuscript) is allowed and available, or publisher policy changes, the item will be deposited.

UNLV article access

Search your library

Share

COinS