Views on Abortion and Motherhood: A Latent Class Analysis of Trends in the U.S.

• In Event: 30458 - Reproductive Beliefs and Fertility Intentions

Abstract

Kristin Luker’s seminal book on “Abortion and the Politics of Motherhood” showed how activists on both sides of the abortion movement had fundamentally opposed worldviews on motherhood and women’s roles in society more broadly that informed their views on abortion. Luker’s book, which was published in 1984, raises a host of questions about broader social views towards abortion and motherhood: To what extent are the worldviews of the activists generalizable to others in society? Has this changed over time as abortion has continued to be polarized? In this paper, I draw on General Social Survey (GSS) data from 1977 to 2022 conduct a Latent Class analysis that Captures different worldviews related to abortion and motherhood. I identify four different classes of respondents some of which correspond with Luker’s activists archetypes and some of which do not. Using multivariate regression, I illuminate the demographic characteristics that correlate with membership in each of the four classes and also show how class membership has changed overtime. This article enhances quantitative understandings of attitudes towards abortion, gender, and family by showing how understandings change when we treat views on abortion and motherhood as part of one set of worldviews rather than as distinct indicators.

Author

• Julia A Behrman, Northwestern University