A few weeks ago, the Bangor Daily News asked the Republican gubernatorial candidates to weigh in on four immediate issues they would face as governor. Candidates were asked about their policy priorities, Medicaid expansion, citizen initiatives and abortion.
Why is a safe, legal medical procedure 1 in 4 women will have an immediate issue for Maine’s governor?
For decades, reporters and politicians have continually written and talked about abortion as a divisive, political issue. They use terms like “lightning rod” and “culture wars” and perpetuate the myth that Americans are “pro-life” or “pro-choice” and deeply divided in their opinions about abortion.
This is not accurate and doesn’t reflect the conversations happening today.
For starters, the pro-life and pro-choice labels aren’t working. They don’t accurately depict people’s thoughts and feelings about abortion. As one example, the number of Americans who believe abortion should be safe and legal is much greater than the number who would describe themselves as “pro-choice.”
Labels are limiting. Instead of putting people in a box, politicians and reporters should respect the real-life conversations and decisions women and families make every day.
The truth is, when it comes to abortion, we’re mostly in agreement.
Last December, the nonpartisan research firm PerryUndem conducted a national survey about abortion that asked questions moving beyond labels. The results may be surprising to those who have only thought of abortion as a partisan political issue.
When respondents were told a woman has decided to have an abortion and asked what they would want the experience for her to be, the most prevalent answers were: informed by medically-accurate information (96 percent), safe (95 percent), legal (85 percent), supportive (83 percent) and without protesters (83 percent)
These feelings would likely be categorized as “pro-choice,” yet only 55 percent of respondents labeled themselves as either pro-choice (35 percent) or both pro-choice and pro-life (20 percent). Using these outdated labels, whether in reporting or polling, is missing the mark and misrepresenting the conversations people are having about abortion.
Despite the rhetoric in news coverage or during campaigns, voters are also clear that they don’t want the government and politicians involved in personal decisions about abortion.
When asked who should decide what procedures are used for abortion, the top responses were the woman and the doctor. Only 4 percent of voters want politicians in Congress or the State House to have a say.
Put more directly, when asked if the government should require women to carry a pregnancy to term and give birth, even if it is against their will, 80 percent say no. We might enjoy watching “The Handmaid’s Tale” on TV, but we certainly don’t want people to live it.
Given these responses, it’s not surprising that 50 percent of voters said they are more likely to vote for a state or federal candidate who supports women having the right to abortion. Fewer than 20 percent said they would be more likely to vote for a candidate who is against women having the right to an abortion.
It is not only Democrats and independents driving this trend. Republican responses reveal similar patterns: only one-third of Republican voters said they would be more likely to vote for a candidate who opposes safe, legal abortion. One-third said they are more likely to vote for a candidate who supports safe, legal abortion and one-third said a candidate’s position on abortion made no difference.
While there has been much hand-wringing among some Democratic Party operatives over whether to run candidates opposed to safe, legal abortion, the research is clear: Democrats stand to lose much more than they might gain. In fact, given the numbers, it’s Republicans who would do well to re-evaluate; sticking with candidates opposed to abortion is costing them votes.
If politicians truly want to represent their constituents, they would support policies that empower women and improve their health, such as guaranteeing all women have affordable access to the most effective birth control methods and providing comprehensive sex education in schools — policies voters say are most important.
And if reporters want to accurately reflect voters’ opinions about abortion, they will stop categorizing us or candidates based on limiting labels that don’t capture how most people actually think and feel about abortion.
Abortion is a deeply personal decision for a woman. It’s time for our candidates, lawmakers and reporters to speak about it that way.
Nicole Clegg is the vice president of public policy for Planned Parenthood of Northern New England in Maine and the Planned Parenthood Maine Action Fund. Andrea Irwin is the executive director of the Mabel Wadsworth Center in Bangor.
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