Views on the issue of abortion, pro-life, and pro-choice have varied among those polled in various sectors. Education, age, gender, race, political view, socioeconomic status, and religious affiliation were once thought to be the determining factors regarding a person's stance on the topic. With the topic of abortion being a "hot-button" issue, its important to consider how different variables will affect a persons view. .
Women over the age of 25 comprise 49% of those receiving abortions; almost 20% of those are college educated, and almost half are married or live with their significant other (Moisse, 2011). It is interesting to see the effect individual variables will have on abortion stance.
For the purpose of this paper, I'll focus on two factors: age and political ideology. I believe that as the age of the respondent increases, so will their anti-abortion view. I also believe that study participants with more conservative views are more likely to hold firmly to an anti-abortion position - and in the hypothesis portion of this paper, I will present specific rationales for this assertion. .
I will review the data obtained from the online public opinion study hosted by St. Petersburg College, and explain this data in the Method section of this paper. I will elaborate on the study findings in the Results section, and will document how these results strengthen my hypotheses in the Conclusion.
II. Hypothesis.
For my first hypothesis, I propose that an anti-abortion stance increases as the age of the respondent increases. Persons over the age of 55 typically hold a more conservative view on the issue of abortion (Saad, 2011). Most older Americans tend to view themselves as pro-life, whereas those under the age of 55 would commonly refer to themselves as pro-choice. .
I believe younger Americans are more pro-choice because they tend to be more liberal when it comes to controversial issues.
