My team of sociologists interviewed more than two hundred “ordinary” Americans regarding how they think and feel about #abortion. A report of our findings came out today. [Thread] https://news.nd.edu/assets/395804/how_americans_understand_abortion_final_7_15_20.pdf #HAUAstudy

Who were these 217 Americans? We mailed a letter to random addresses in six U.S. locales, without disclosing #abortion as the topic. Respondents filled out an online pre-screener. We used this to build a sample approximating diversity across the U.S. overall. #HAUAstudy

After ensuring confidentiality and getting to know each interviewee, we asked: What first comes to mind when you hear the word #abortion? #HAUAstudy

Then we asked about #abortion in early memories, connections to parents, friends, pastors, relationships, politics, television, voting, activism, moral views, legal views, and more. #HAUAstudy

We listened to Americans tell us stories about friends in high school who faced unplanned pregnancies, about past and present relationships, about personal miscarriages and infertility, about living in places or times when #abortion was illegal… #HAUAstudy

Asking about #abortion opens an intimate space where Americans think through what they value, how they weigh multiple values, their ideas of the “good,” and how to distinguish between “right” for oneself and “right” for someone else. #HAUAstudy

In other words, for most, #abortion is not merely a culture war, political litmus test, or common position label, but a deeply personal reality. #HAUAstudy

Three-quarters of our interviewees knew someone who’d had an #abortion. A quarter of our female interviewees disclosed abortions, themselves. #HAUAstudy

Most Americans don’t talk about #abortion with others. Many never have. Many don’t have awareness of things like when a heart starts beating, what their state laws permit, or how much an abortion costs. #HAUAstudy

#Abortion attitudes hinge upon what happens before the decision (=the nature of the relationship between conceiving partners, health risks, birth control...) and after (=support networks, financial stability, efficacy, long-term outcomes...). #HAUAstudy

Rather than relying solely upon survey statistics, let’s start actually listening to how Americans understand #abortion. Read more about what we learned: [End thread] https://news.nd.edu/assets/395804/how_americans_understand_abortion_final_7_15_20.pdf #HAUAstudy

*Thank you* to @NotreDame @McGrathND, @jessfkeating, @skoffy718, many others for project support as well as to my expert team of interviewers: Bridget Ritz, Kendra Hutchens, Patricia Tevington, and Maureen Day