Scoglio Arielle A J, Nayak Sameera S
Department of Natural and Applied Sciences, Bentley University, Waltham, MA, USA; Epidemiology Department, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Public Health, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Soc Sci Med. 2023 Mar;320:115724. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.115724. Epub 2023 Jan 26.
Contextual factors can shape public opinion towards abortion. We investigated the association between the state-level abortion legislative climate and individual attitudes towards abortion legality and government restrictions of abortion access in the United States.
Data come from the 2020 Cooperative Congressional Election Study (n = 61,000). Using multivariable logistic regression with generalized estimating equations, we explored whether state-level abortion policy climates (based on the Guttmacher Institute's 2020 rating of state abortion policies) were associated with individual attitudes (1) towards abortion legality, and (2) towards government restriction of abortion access, controlling for individual socio-demographic factors.
Eighty-eight percent of participants supported the legality of abortion in some or all circumstances. Conversely, 30% of the sample opposed all federal government restrictions on abortion. More than 60% of the sample lived in highly abortion-restrictive states. Participants living in states with a more supportive abortion legislative climate were more likely to support the legality of abortion in some or all circumstances (AOR = 1.07, (95% CI 1.05, 1.09). Participants in states with more supportive abortion policies were more likely to oppose federal governmental restrictions (AOR = 1.03, 95% CI 1.02, 1.04). Low religiosity, higher educational attainment, and politically liberal views were associated with increased support for abortion legality and increased opposition to government restrictions on abortion.
State-level abortion policy contexts were positively associated with public attitudes towards abortion. While attitudes towards abortion legality are favorable across the country; there is also strong support at least one type of government restriction on abortion access. Results highlight a disconnect between multifaceted public attitudes towards abortion and polarized state contexts, suggesting that policymaking on abortion represents a higher level of polarization than exists at the individual level. Policymakers and legislators should more carefully consider the desires of the public when designing abortion legislation.
环境因素会影响公众对堕胎的看法。我们调查了美国州一级堕胎立法环境与个人对堕胎合法性及政府对堕胎限制的态度之间的关联。
数据来自2020年国会合作选举研究（n = 61,000）。我们使用带有广义估计方程的多变量逻辑回归，探讨州一级堕胎政策环境（基于古特马赫研究所2020年对州堕胎政策的评级）是否与个人态度相关：（1）对堕胎合法性的态度，以及（2）对政府限制堕胎的态度，并控制个人社会人口因素。
88%的参与者支持在某些或所有情况下堕胎合法。相反，30%的样本反对联邦政府对堕胎的所有限制。超过60%的样本生活在堕胎限制严格的州。生活在堕胎立法环境更支持的州的参与者更有可能在某些或所有情况下支持堕胎合法（优势比=1.07，95%置信区间1.05，1.09）。堕胎政策更支持的州的参与者更有可能反对联邦政府的限制（优势比=1.03，95%置信区间1.02，1.04）。低宗教信仰、高教育程度和政治自由主义观点与对堕胎合法性的支持增加以及对政府堕胎限制的反对增加相关。
州一级堕胎政策环境与公众对堕胎的态度呈正相关。虽然全国对堕胎合法性的态度是支持的，但也有至少一种政府对堕胎限制的强烈支持。结果凸显了公众对堕胎的多方面态度与两极分化的州环境之间的脱节，表明堕胎政策制定代表了比个人层面更高程度的两极分化。政策制定者和立法者在设计堕胎立法时应更仔细地考虑公众的意愿。
