Cross posted at The Smoking Room
Wesley J. Smith points to some very interesting results from the latest Pew poll on attitudes toward life issues: assisted suicide, stem cell research, and for some, the raison d’etre for the Supreme Court, abortion. Smith notes that support for assisted suicide is far below estimates from its leading proponents – 44% with the neutral poll question, 51% with the the personal-empowerment wording. He points out there’s no breakout on stem cells between the adult and embryonic varieties, which mirrors the continuing poor reporting on the difference between the two – and near-total absence of reporting on the continued success of adult stem cells in trial, compared to the highly theoretical utility of embryonic cells. I also don’t care for the phrasing on stem cells – “potential life” is highly misleading, and scientifically nonsensical. “Early human development” should be the neutral phrase.
But the abortion results are worth highlighting, as the main flashpoint in the culture wars. Pew correctly notes most people (65%) want to keep Roe in place – possibly assuming abortion will be illegal without it, which is incorrect – but almost as many (63%) want it “more limited” at the least, and 40% would make it illegal save for the triad (rape/incest/life of the mother) or totally. Those figures have been moving continuously toward more restrictions for the past 2 decades. Even 2 in 5 moderate/conservative Democrats, and 1 in 5 liberal Democrats, take the pro-life position. The pro-choice movement is still alive mainly because of its talent in framing abortion as all-or-nothing. Polling has been consistent for many years – a strong majority of Americans think abortion is too easy to get, for too many poor reasons. There’s no doubt over what the moderate position is – legal, with restrictions. Thanks to our courts, the restrictions passed every year by state legislatures and Congress aren’t being enforced.
Gay unions, differently defined, also show interesting results. Phrased as “marriage,” gay unions are a loser (36% favor), but simply as “civil unions,” a majority (53%). The “don’t know” share is relatively small for each. So let me make a potentially controversial prediction:
Americans are getting more pro-life and more pro-gay. Since this survey doesn’t break out responses by age groups, I’ll go out on a limb and say it’s because my generation leans those ways. We’ve seen both the pain and senselessness of abortion in a country as privileged as America, and are aware of the de facto alliance between the abortion lobby and the irresponsible male contingent that loves to say “it’s your choice” to get out of saying “I’m not paying for that kid.” At the same time, many of our friends and co-workers are gay, and we’ve seen their longing to be recognized legally as society recognizes even the most loveless, hostile, distant marriage between a man and woman. As the figures show, there’s a strong difference between putting gay unions on the pedestal of “marriage” and giving gays basic legal protections for committed relationships. Again, I’d love to see the generational breakdown here – and even more so, the views of not-yet adults – but I’m confident that the numbers will continue toward extending recognition of life and life’s most important relationships with each new generation.
I’m a tech journalist who’s making a TV show about a college newspaper.