“If I may ask, why was that pint insightful? The Church has been making the point (that life begins at conception) for decades.”
- You have misunderstood the author's findings. He found that the question "When does life begin" is the largest predictor in both abortion attitude and position. Obviously there will be differences of actual opinion on the question itself. Furthermore, he found that "religious identity" was a statistically insignificant predictor of abortion attitude and position.
FYI: author’s data set from MTurk: “Politically, the sample was predominantly pro-choice (62%), liberal (63%), socialist(54%), and Democratic (66%). The sample was well-educated (63% graduated from college) and had more females (57%) than males (43%). The demographics were consistent with previous findings on the demographics of MTurk samples9.” MTurk is a service that allows academics to connect with large data pools and has been used in the past to poll on issues such as political ideology. The author polled and received responses from over 4,700 participants.
"And that is why, a “grand compromise” is impossible IMO. JHS is spot on when s/he says, ‘Most people have gotten used to the idea that different people can make different choices, and that another person’s choice does not affect your integrity.’
- The fact that Roe has been chipped away over the decades does, indeed, suggest a lack of national consensus. I guess it comes down to whether to give it the old college try one more time before the issue is 100% kicked back to the states, which might result in very disparate legislative outcomes across state lines. I guess it depends on whether one views this as a national issue or not. But then, that's why we elect representatives and send them to Congress :smiley:
"However, there are really three choices for a mediator:
a) ban except in cases of mother’s health (and rape)
b) “safe, legal and rare” (which is where “most people” probably are)
c) full access perhaps up to and even thru the third trimester
The issue is that there is no compromise possible across the three. From a public policy (and political) standpoint, there are only winners and losers (IMO)."
- According to the Vox article at least, the "safe legal and rare" point of view might be losing ground recently to a more mainstream attitude concerning women's health and reproductive rights. But it is the case that in 2019 (and according to Pew Research), well under under 30% support "legality in all cases"; the majority support, at minimum, some sort of restrictions. So safe, legal and rare might still be the prevailing standard. https://www.pewforum.org/fact-sheet/public-opinion-on-abortion/
There will continue to be areas and opportunities for compromise: for instance, if Roe is overturned, the new “national” arena for the debate will be Congress; states will continue to push - this time against any federal laws passed or in effect one way or the other; and the Supreme Court will settle any dispute, just like it does now. But mediation and “compromise” within the legislative branch of gov’t may actually work much better, despite the inevitable partisanship that accompanies a hot button issue.