"The Millennials, Religion, and Abortion Survey"

The Public Religion Research Institute recently released a study on abortion that they termed "the largest national public opinion survey ever conducted on abortion and the influence of religion and moral values on the issue." The survey, which can be found here, is forty-one pages long and was compiled through 3000 interviews. To go through all of the survey would take hours, so I will give you some highlights. The survey focused on the "Millennial" Generation's (18 to 29 year olds) view of abortion and the issues surrounding it. The study found that, contrary to popular belief, the Millennial Generation is not significantly more likely to favor abortion than the rest of American society, meaning that roughly 60% of their generation believes abortion should be legal in all or most cases, and 40% believes that abortion should be illegal in all or most cases. The study also found that those who knew someone who had an abortion were far more likely to support abortion than those who didn't know anyone who had an abortion. Those who had recently seen an image of an ultrasound were slightly less likely to support abortion than those who hadn't. Those who had seen TV shows such as "Teen Mom" or "16 and Pregnant" were more likely to support abortion than those who hadn't seen those shows. Another interesting fact this study found is that 60% of Americans who attend church weekly say that abortion should be illegal in all or most cases.

So what does it mean? Well, it confirms a lot of things that we already knew. Religious people are more likely than atheists or agnostics to oppose abortion, friendships influence beliefs, and television and the internet are now large influences in our lives. However, the key part if the survey made me pause temporarily. The survey suggests that the Millennial Generation, a generation considered one of the most liberal and "open-minded" generations ever, is no more open to abortion than the rest of society. In fact, the survey says that exactly half of that generation (50%) believes that abortion is morally wrong. The pro-life movement, contrary to popular belief, will not suffer through the Milennial Generation. In fact, this study shows that the pro-life movement could conceivably grow through this generation. That, I think, is the key find of this survey.

In Christ,

Jacob