Married to the Man? Abortion Attitudes, Marriage and Perceptions of Gender Linked Fate

• In Event: 2266 - Family Section Roundtables (1 hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: 12. Gender, Mothering, and Family Ideologies and Practices

Abstract

Abortion is one of the most divisive political issues in American politics used often to divide conservatives from their more liberal counterparts. Existing research documents fails to document a gender gap in abortion support, a surprising finding given that abortion is deeply connected to women’s bodies. We argue that abortion support is deeply tied to women’s perceptions of gender linked fate, or the extent to which women see their futures as tied to other women. Drawing upon existing research showing married white women report lower levels of gender linked fate, we assess these relationships to abortion support through the 2012 American National Election Survey (n=2,239). We find that married white women are the least supportive of abortion that any other women. Using mediation analysis, we show married white women’s lower levels of gender linked fate help explain their weaker support for abortion. As state governments are increasingly weakening abortion laws, understanding how gender linked fate, marriage and race intersect to reduce support for abortion is increasingly important.

Authors

• Leah Ruppanner, University of Melbourne

• Kelsy Kretschmer, Oregon State University

• Christopher Stout, Oregon State University