PRI Family Demography Working Group

PRI Family Demography Working Group

Wednesday, February 23, 12 noon - 1pm EST

"She does not want to marry the man': Motherhood, Marriage, and Attitudes toward Abortion"

Jane Lankes, PhD candidate, Sociology

Individuals’ views on abortion are often contradictory and “messy.” Yet many quantitative studies continue to measure these attitudes in a scale, obscuring the patterns in which individuals may be simultaneously “pro-choice” and “pro-life.” Using the General Social Survey, I examined how individuals fell into profiles of abortion attitudes, or latent classes. Results showed four classes, three of which are predicted by past research (Uniformly Pro-Choice, 41%; Extenuating Circumstances, 29%; and Uniformly Pro-Life, 16%) and one of which that is not (Singlehood Exception, 14%). Although the Single Exception class agreed abortion should be possible in several circumstances, individuals in this class thought abortion should not be possible in only one situation: if the woman “is not married and doesn’t want to marry the man.” I examined how class membership related to sociodemographics and discuss why some individuals are generally favorable toward abortion but still object on grounds of marital status.