Catholic/Protestant Trends on Abortion: Convergence and Polarity

“The dropoff is almost entirely confined to Republicans, which, again, poses some questions to which we will return.”

“(Not surprisingly (Sullins 1999), relative to Protestantism, Catholicism did not significantly predict greater perception of abortion risk.).”

“However, younger age cohorts have become slightly less permissive (Sullins 1999).”

“…Hunter (1991) refers to as an epistemologicallybased religious restructuring, it is important to note that denominational affiliations, and even religious preference to some extent, are growing less significant as indictors of personal spiritual orientation (Hoffmann & Miller, 1998; Sullins, 1999).”

“Sullins (1999) also finds that church attendance plays an important role in determining public opinion.”

“More recently, Catholic youth have begun to demonstrate more tolerance toward abortion, which may divorce, remarriages, and contraception (Sullins, 1999).”

“Sullins (1999)points out the trends of the convergence among Catholic and Protestant and the rapid decline in church attendance among Catholics, but not among Protestants.”

“Previous research suggests age (Lynxwiler & Gay, 1994; Sullins, 1999), education (Kaplan et al., 2001; Wang, 2004), income, marital status (Hertel & Russell, 1999) and region of residency (Gay & Lynxwiler, 1999; Secret, 1987; Wilcox, 1992) may impact abortion attitudes.”

“Hunter’s (1991, 1994) epistemological theory has been influential, both in social work (Fellin, 2000; Hutchison, 1999; Parr, 1996; Ressler & Hodge, 2000; Van Soest, 1996) and other disciplines (Carroll & Marler, 1995; Hoffmann & Miller, 1998; Jensen, 1998; Sullins, 1999; Williams, 1997).”

“…an important predictor of public opinion on a variety of cultural issues, including abortion (Cook, Jelen, & Wilcox, 1992; Evans, 2002; Jelen, 2009; Sullins, 1999) and same-sex marriage (e.g., Jelen, 2009; Olson, Cadge, & Harrison, 2006; Sherkat, de Vries, & Creek, 2010; Sherkat, Powell-Williams,…”

“For example, the dynamics of public opinion in the United States have changed as some groups of Roman Catholics have become more prochoice and evangelical Protestants have moved in a more pro-life direction (Sullins 1999).”

“Indeed, the perceived explanatory power of Hunter’s framework is evidenced by the considerable amount of research and discussion it has inspired (Carroll & Marler, 1995; Hoffmann & Miller, 1998; Jensen, 1998; Sullins, 1999; Williams, 1997).”

“…of the Protestant term, alongside a non-significant Catholic term, may be reflective of larger trends in religion’s role in politics, including the increased role that white Evangelical churches have played in the abortion debate (Hoffmann & Johnson, 2005; Siegel & Greenhouse, 2011; Sullins, 1999).”

“Models presented below therefore include controls for African Americans (Strickler & Danigelis, 2002), Hispanic ethnicity (Bolks et al., 2000), age (Sullins, 1999), income (Granberg & Granberg, 1980), education (Cook et al., 1992), and religiosity (Benin, 1985).”

“…of the population that is Catholic is not seen to be significant is contrary to the bulk of the extant literature, but seems to correspond with Sullins (1999) study that reported a decline in pro-choice attitudes in younger Protestants and a clear pro-choice trend among younger Catholics with…”

“However, Sullins (1999) found that young Catholics are becoming more permissive about abortion (Sullins, 1999).”

“These topics have received extensive attention and research [7, 10, 12, 23, 24] .”

“Sullins (1999) shows that, at least in American populations, Catholics and Pro-testants are converging in two key ways: their rates of church attendance (both declining, now to a level where no significant difference exists between them) and their support for abortion (both increasing, now with no…”

“This finding suggests that religiosity is key in shaping individual attitudes towards abortion (Sullins, 1999).”