There person’s religious background greatly influences whether or

There person’s religious background greatly influences whether or

There is a negative relationship between support for abortion and the importanceof religion, while controlling party affiliation.Among males, there is a negative relationship between support for abortion andAmong females, there is a negative relationship between support for abortion andA person’s religious background greatly influences whether or not they supportabortion. When religion plays an important role in someone’s life, they are less likely tosupport abortion.

Most religions strongly disapprove of the taking of someone’s life. They consider it one of the highest sins a human can commit. They believe that abortion isconsidered murder because even a fetus has a spirit so it shall be considered a livinghuman. When religion plays a less important role in a person’s life, they are more likely tosupport abortion.

These people are more likely to consider reasons for the abortion ratherthan never permitting it. These people tend to look at the women and why she isrequesting the abortion. They are less likely to consider a fetus a living being until it isThe first hypothesis indicates that the higher the importance of religion is to aperson the less supportive they would be of abortion, with regards to that persons politicalparty affiliation.

The party in which a person identifies with will have a direct effect on thelink between support for abortion and the importance of religion. Political parties, as wellas a persons religious background, play a major role in attitudes towards different issues. By nature, democrats are more likely to approve abortion than republicans. A person’sreligious background usually has an effect on which party they associate themselves with.

Therefore, there must be a link between a person’s party affiliation, religious background,The second and third hypotheses indicate that gender has an effect on support forabortion based on their religious beliefs. I believe that men are less likely to approveabortion than women because of the women’s’ movement that has been going on foryears. Many women are more apt to approve of the idea of pro-choice.

They want todecide what is best for them, not some politician in Washington, D.C. A 90’s women ismore independent than say a 50’s women. They are battling for women’s rights. Abortion is a very controversial issue which directly effects women’s rights.

I believe thatmen are less likely to support women’s rights because it will take power away from them. Most of our government positions are held by men. By giving the decision of abortion towomen, it is taking away more of their power over us.In order to test my hypotheses, I chose two variables and two controls. Mydependent variable was support for abortion.

This variable was based on four responses:never permitted, for rape or incest, if there was a clear health need, and always permitted. My independent variable was importance of religion. Originally, this variable containedfour scaled responses: high, 3, 2, and low. In order to receive more obvious results, Irecoded the responses into to categories.

The high consists of high and 3. The lowconsists of low and 2. My first control variable was party affiliation. Originally, thisconsisted of seven responses: strong democrat, weak democrat, independent democrat,independent, independent republican, weak republican, and strong republican. In order toreceive more accurate results, I recoded them down to three responses. Strongdemocrats, weak democrats and independent democrats were recoded to democrats. Theindependent response stayed the same.

Finally, the independent republicans, weakrepublicans, and the strong republicans were recoded to republicans. My second controlwas gender. These responses were simply male and female.Support for Abortion by Importance of Religion: 1996________________________________________________________________________Support for AbortionLowHighSource: National Science Foundation, University of Michigan, 1996Table 1 is the original table. It shows that 20.6% of people with a high importancelevel of religion never permit abortion.

Of the other people with a high importance levelof religion, 38.5% permit it for rape or incest, 13% permit it if there is a clear health need,and 27.9% always permit it. Of the people with a low importance level of religion, 3.4%never permit it, 19.9% permit it for rape or incest, 19.6% permit it if there is a clear healthneed, and 57.

1% always permit it. This indicates that when religion plays a less importantrole, a person is more likely to support abortion. Pearson’s Chi-square equals .

000. Thisshows that the relationship between religious importance and support for abortion isstatistically significant. Kendall’s tau-c equals -.405. This shows that there is a negativerelationship between the two variables and that relationship is statistically significant.Support for Abortion by Importance of Religion Among Democrats: 1996(In Percentages)Support for AbortionLowHighSource: National Science Foundation, University of Michigan, 1996This table shows the relationship between the importance of religion and supportfor abortion among democrats.

19% of Democrats with a high importance level ofreligion never permit abortion; 32.3% permit it for rape or incest, 13.6% support it if thereis a clear health need and 35.1% always permit it.

Only 2.3% of Democrats with a lowimportance level of religion never permit abortion; 16.3% permit it in the case of rape orincest; 19.

6% support it if there is a clear health need; and 61.8% always permit it. BothPearson’s chi-square and Kendall’s tau-c show that there is a statistical significance level. These results indicate that when compared to the original table, the biggest effect of thiscontrol variable comes when asked whether or not the person always supports abortion. Democrats are more likely to always permit abortion.

Support for Abortion by Importance of Religion Among Independents: 1996Support for AbortionLowHighSource: National Science Foundation, University of Michigan, 1996Both Pearson’s chi-square and Kendall’s tau-c indicate that there is a significantstatistical level in the variables. This data shows that 16.7% of independents with a highimportance level of religion never permit abortion; 37% permit it in cases of rape or incest;24.1% support it if there is a clear health need; and 22.

2% always permit it. Whenindependents with a low importance level of religion were asked their opinion of abortion:3.4% never permitted it; 15.5% permitted in cases of rape or incest; 17.

2% supported it ifthere was a clear health need; and 63.8% always permitted it. When compared to theabove tables, this data indicates that again the largest percentage difference is among theresponse to always permitting abortion.

It also shows that independents with a higherlevel of religious importance are more likely to permit abortion in the case of rape orincest rather than always permitting it. Support for Abortion by Importance of Religion Among RepublicansSupport for AbortionLowHighSource: National Science Foundation, University of Michigan, 1996Both Pearson’s chi-square and Kendall’s’ tau-c indicate that there is a statisticalsignificance among the variables. This table shows that 22.3% of Republicans with a highimportance level of religion never permit abortion; 47.1% permit it in the case of rape orincest; 10.7% permit it if there is a clear health need; and 0nly 19.

9% always permit it. This table also shows that 4.8% of Republicans with a low importance level of religionnever permit abortion; 25.

8% support it in the case of rape or incest; 20.3% permit it ifthere is a clear health need; and 49.1% always permit it. This data indicates thatRepublicans with a more important religious background are more likely to supportabortion if there has been a rape or incest than the other political parties. It is also obviousthat Republicans with a lower level of religious background are more likely to alwayssupport abortion than Republicans with a higher religious importance.Support for Abortion by Importance of Religion Among Males:1996Support for AbortionLow HighSource: National Science Foundation, University of Michigan, 1996Both Pearson’s chi-square and Kendall’s tau-c show that there is statisticalsignificance level among the variables.

This table shows that 20.8% of males with a highimportance level of religion never support abortion; 41.6% support it in the case of rapeor incest; 14% permit it if there is a clear health need; and 23.5% always permit it. Thistable also shows that 4% of males with a low importance level of religion never supportabortion; 23.

6% approve in the case of rape or incest; 21.8% permit it if there is a clearhealth need; and 50.6% always permit it. This table does not differ that much from theoriginal table. But, there are small percentage differences in the responses to alwayspermitting abortion and permitting it in cases of rape or incest.

Support for Abortion by Importance of Religion Among FemalesSupport for AbortionLowHighSource: National Science Foundation, University of Michigan, 1996The Pearson’s chi-square and Kendall’s tau-c both indicate a statistical significancelevel among the variables. This table shows that 20.5% of females with a high importancelevel of religion never permit abortion; 36.3% permit it in cases of rape or incest; 12.

3%support it if there is a clear health need; and 30.9% always permit it. This table also showsthat only 3% of females with a low importance level of religion never permit abortion;15.

5% support it in cases of rape or incest; 16.7% permit it if there is a clear health need;and 64.9% always permit it.

When compared to the original table and table 5, it isobvious that women are more likely to always support abortion.In conclusion, my hypotheses were supported. Overall, people with a higherimportance level of religion are less likely to support abortion for any reason. Independents with a low importance level of religion are more likely to always supportabortion than democrats or republicans. Republicans with a high importance level ofreligion are more likely to support abortion in cases of rape or incest and are the leastlikely to always support abortion. Overall, democrats and independents were more likelyto support abortion for any reason than republicans.

The data also supports my theory that women are more likely to always supportabortion than men. Females with a low importance level of religion are the most likely toalways support abortion. Men with a higher importance level of religion are more likely topermit abortion in cases of rape or incest. Overall, the results show that people in generalare more likely to approve of abortion only in cases of rape or incest rather than alwayssupporting it. In conclusion, I think that people with less religious background are morelikely to support abortion.

However, no matter their religious background, partyaffiliation, or gender, when a significant reason for the abortion is presented (rape or incestspecifically) they are all more likely to support it.Bibliography: