Abortion in The United States

Abstract

Abortion is one of the hottest topics of debate in the United States today. With several religious groups trying to have it abolished, and several other groups, including feminism, trying to keep it legal. For this study I interviewed 20 College students, 10 women, and 10 men. The comparison of these results may show that women are more inclined to believe abortion should stay legal in the United States, with all of all the regulations staying the same.

Introduction

Currently in the United States a woman can legally have an abortion, without the consent of the father, up until the baby is in the second trimester. According to the Pro-Life Action League there are roughly 749,232 abortions each year in the United States.

However, in recent years the up rise about legal abortion has become a main topic of discussion all around the world. With people from all genders and different groups voicing their opinion. I set out to compare the two different sexes’ opinions about abortion, with a small regard to their religious interest.

Methods

Participants:

As mentioned above, there were 20 participants in this survey, 10 women and 10 men. For research purposes, all of the participants were undergraduate college students. Each person was asked to state their name, sex, and amount of religious involvement (very, somewhat, not at all). They were then asked if women should be able to have a legal abortion in the U.S. (always, never, or sometimes under special circumstances). The final question asked each participant if he or she believed an abortion should occur with no consent for the father. They were asked to agree, disagree, or strongly agree or disagree. Two participants were chosen based on their answers, one man and one woman, and asked to further explain their beliefs.

Observations:

All participants were in the same general age group to narrow the study. Women were more inclined to believe that an abortion should be able to occur without the consent of the father. While the majority of men who believed abortion should be legal, checked the “sometimes, under special circumstances” box rather than the “always” box. Religious involvement surprisingly seemed to have little to no influence on the answers given.

Results:

Both table 1 and table 2 show the results of the questions listed above them. For each table the results for men are shown in red, while the women’s answers are all shown in blue. In regards to the first question and table, the majority of both men and women agreed that abortion should be legal in the US. The only difference being the majority of men who said yes, claimed it should only be legal in certain situations, not all the time. While the majority of women who answered yes, said abortion should always be legal, with no limitations. According to this study both sexes agree abortion should be legal, but women are more inclined to believe it should always be legal. 

In regards to Table 2, 14 of the 20 voters agreed or strongly agreed that a woman should be able to have an abortion without the consent of the father. While only six disagreed or strongly disagreed. Of the six voters who said a woman should not be allowed to have an abortion without consent of the father, five were men. While of the 14 voters who said yes, only five were men. From this we gather that the male race is somewhat split when it comes to whether or not a woman should need their consent to have an abortion. While 90% of the female race believes, according to this study, that a women should be able to have an abortion without consent from the father.

When a female who believed abortion should only be legal sometimes was asked to explain why she chose this option she said, “Situations such as rape or and alcoholic mother call for the option of abortion, because a woman should not be forced to keep a child if she was raped”. While a man who believed abortion should never be legal explained himself by claiming that “a child has the right to live, just like any other human being. No one else should be able to decide for them”. When the same male and female were asked to explain why they chose their answers regarding a woman having an abortion without the consent of the father, the woman said, “If the father has no intent of being in the child’s life, he should have no say in anything regarding the child”. While the man believed “a baby is just as much mine as it is the mothers, she should not be able to take its life with no consent from me”.

Figure 1:

        

Figure 1: represents the male and female opinion when asked when a woman should be able to legally have an abortion in the United States.

Figure 2:

Number of men who believe abortion should be legal: 90%

Number of women who believe abortion should be legal: 100%

Figure 2: compares the percent of men and women who believe abortion should be legal in the United States.

Figure 3:

Figure 3: Represents the male and female answers when asked if a woman should legally be able to have an abortion without the consent of the father.

Figure 4:

Number of men who believe abortion should occur without consent of father: 50%

Number of women who believe abortion should occur without consent of the father: 90%

Figure 4: Compares the percent of males and females who believe an abortion should be able to occur without consent from the father.

Discussion:

When comparing the male and female view on abortion, the study found the overwhelming majority of both sexes believe abortion should stay legal in the US. But most men claimed abortion should only be legal in special circumstances (rape, etc.) while most women who answered yes said abortion should always be legal regardless of circumstances. When asked if a woman should be able to have an abortion without the consent of the father, 9 out of 10 women agreed or strongly agreed. This was certainly expected. While 5 out of 10 mean agreed, and the other five disagreed. This date does not give a clear result for the male opinion on a woman having an abortion without consent from the father. Every participant was in the same general age range, and they were also asked about their religious involvement. The latter question proved to have very little to no influence in this specific study. Therefore, it was mostly excluded from the results. This study could have been hindered by the relatively small number of participants, making the data somewhat tainted. Future research in this subject could survey more participants and survey a broader spectrum of age. This study only compares male to female in one given age range, while other studies could attempt to compare sexes and different age ranges.

Works Cited

"About Abortion." Q & A about Abortion. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Apr. 2015.