A faith and culture research organization has delved into attitudes about abortion, finding that faith -- or lack of it -- continues to heavily influence opinion on the issue.
Barna Group spokesman David Kinnamon tells OneNewsNow the purpose of the research was to update previous studies on attitudes toward abortion. So his research group asked 1,001 adults across America if they thought abortion should be "legal in all cases, legal in most cases, illegal in most cases, or illegal in all cases."
"We found that generally, Americans continue to favor keeping abortion legal in most or all cases -- 49 percent compared to 42 percent who would like to make it illegal in all or most cases," Kinnamon reports. "So when you look at it, abortion continues to split the nation pretty much right down the middle."
But he adds that the latest research reveals that compared to the 1990s and early 2000s, Americans have shifted and softened their opinions on the issue.
"What we find in our research is that they're more likely to be more moderate, more likely to express a 'middle ground' or 'not sure' position about abortion. And so it seems as though Americans, while they still have clear views on the matter, are a little bit less likely to express strong opinions on one side of the issue or the other," the Barna spokesman explains.
Only about one-third of Americans expressed strong views either for or against abortion. One important aspect of the research is that faith plays a heavy role in the decision, as 78 percent of evangelical Christians think the procedure should be illegal in all or most cases, while 72 percent of those who identify themselves as atheists or agnostics think it should continue to be legal.
Also, according to the survey, many young people -- especially young Christians -- continue to oppose abortion. Kinnamon thinks that suggests young people are saying the nation's "experimentation with abortion needs to be rethought, and we need to go back to a more traditional perspective on the issue."
Contact: Charlie Butts
Source: OneNewsNowDate Published: October 4, 2010
