'Nuance matters in abortion debate'

In last month's speech to Susan B. Anthony List members, Sarah Palin claimed that polls show "more Americans proudly proclaiming themselves as pro-life . . . and that's a huge victory." The Los Angeles Times has posted an op-ed that argues very succinctly how she's partly right and partly wrong, shows that reality is much more complex and uncertain than her implication would have it, and argues that the terms 'pro-life' and 'pro-choice' no longer adequately encapsulate the debate's terms (as if they ever did). Palin's claim, it turns out, comes from a recent Gallup poll which asked respondents whether they call themselves "pro-life" or "pro-choice," and found a two-point gap favoring the former. However, it's not the whole story. The Gallup polls that have given rise to the common wisdom that the country is trending restrictive on the question of abortion rights aren't nearly as conclusive as media reports might indicate. The author notes, "the three polls on which the so-called (conservative) trend in public opinion is based include one outlier and two with inconclusive results." Readers may also be surprised to learn that the the main source on voter opinion used by scholars found "over the last three decades ... no more than 15 percent agreed with the statement 'by law, abortion should never be permitted', the official position of the Republican Party." Read much more, here.