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Abortion is a controversial and emotional subject over which people are deeply divided. At this time--the last decade of the twentieth century-compromise between contending factions seems to be impossible because of the passion with which conflicting views are held. Even the terms that partisans of each position use to describe their views bear emotional freight. Anti-abortionists label themselves pro-life; they are not just opposed to abortion, they believe that the fetus is a complete, living person, deserving of legal protection. Those in favor of legalized abortion deny that they are pro abortion, for indeed most believe that abortion is undesirable, even though it is sometimes necessary. They call themselves pro-choice; they believe that women should be able to decide for themselves whether or not they should bear a child, and should not be subjected to the dictates of the government.

The opinion of the general public, as measured by public opinion polls, appears to be neither wholeheartedly pro-life nor pro-choice. Since the 1970s, public opinion has been fairly constant in supporting legal abortion under some circumstances. But the polls show that the public also agrees that there should be some restrictions on abortion, and does not believe it should be completely unregulated.

In reading public opinion polls it is necessary to look carefully at the questions being asked, as some questions are ambiguously worded and some are designed to produce the answers the pollster wants to hear.

Abortion first became involved in politics in the nineteenth century, when its opponents succeeded in having state legislatures pass laws making abortion a crime. During the 1960s and 1970s reformers went back to the state legislatures in an attempt to have abortion made legal once again. They also filed lawsuits contending that harsh abortion laws were unconstitutional. After the 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade had established a constitutional right to choose an abortion during the first three months of pregnancy, the foes of abortion moved into electoral politics. They hoped to be able to elect public officials who would recriminalize abortion and appoint Supreme Court justices who would overturn Roe v. Wade.

In the election years 1976 and 1980 abortion even became an issue in the presidential election, although the president does not have much direct authority to deal with the problem. As the Washington Post commented at the time, requiring candidates for the presidency to take a stand on abortion is "rather like making a position on Angola the litmus test of someone's fitness to serve on the City Council." Making abortion an issue in electoral politics has had some unfortunate side effects. By turning it into a political issue and forcing public officials to stand and be counted for or against, activists on both sides of the controversy made compromise more difficult and froze people into unyielding positions. . . 

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