From: chaneysa@nextnet.ccs.csus.edu (Steve Chaney : Borg Operating Space Systems, Revision 2.0)
Newsgroups: talk.abortion
Subject: Larry Margolis bites the dust
Summary: I don't grant your credibility the right to life.
Date: 7 Oct 92 15:56:09 GMT
Organization: California State University Sacramento
Originator: chaneysa@nextnet


Larry Margolis, living up to his name, Tweedledum, has told us point blank
that my point that most Americans do not agree with the mainline pro-choice
stance, is "bullshit."

Well, Larry, you have invited upon yourself a gunfight over the poll data.
My challenge to you: find us the polls which ask about:
- Abortion for birth control.
- Abortion for rape & incest.

You know, the SPECIFICS. Just give us the straight "I think it should be
legal" or "I think it should be illegal" stats. We can't prove anything
with "I think it's wrong" or other muddy stuff, so I left it out, too.

        And so I hereby fire bullets into your credibility's face:


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Poll #1 [Wirthlin Poll, January 22, 1992]:

- 53% of Americans polled, say that abortion should only be legal for: Rape,
incest, or to save the life of the mother.
- A slim plurality - 43% - want Roe vs. Wade overturned. That jumps to 48%
when they are told it eliminates the rights of states to pass laws on
abortion. 
- 57% want Roe vs. Wade changed.
- 50% of Americans oppose the FOCA, versus 45% in favor.
- 80% support parental notification laws.
- 74% support spousal notification laws.
(No data on spousal/parental consent, which is DIFFERENT from notification.)


The Wirthlin Poll for February is roughly the same. But there are tons of
Wirthlin Polls showing the same thing, and to use them all just begs the
question:
Are there other polls that agree?
THE ANSWER:


Poll #2 [Boston Globe Poll, 1989]:

- 89% believe abortion on demand should be illegal.


* Poll #3 [Washington Post, October 7, 1989]:
Under "Poll Finds Majority Support Abortion Rights":

- 54% agree that a woman should get an abortion for any reason.
but then:
- 85% agree that abortion should be illegal if she cannot afford the baby;
- 92% agree "                             " if she didn't want another
child.


* Poll #4 [CBS News & NY Times, January 27, 1992]:

- 58% prefer to place significant limits on abortion or stop it entirely.


* Poll #5 [Austin American-Statesman nationwide poll, October 8, 1991]:

- 64% said abortion should be completely illegal or legal under certain
circumstances.


Poll #6 [Gallup poll, Feb 28, 1991]:

- 66% oppose legal abortion in the first trimester even if it means
dropping out of school or if the father walked away.
- 76% said the same thing even if a child would interrupt a woman's
professional career.

("Oppose legal abortion for" != "Abortion should be legal for...", for all
you semantic-meisters out there.)


* - Meaning I would rather see the "circumstances" they said it should be
legal under, before I declare these two as "concrete" proof.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                In short, Larry Margolis, ponder this fact:


        "Most in US favor ban on majority of abortions, poll finds"
           - The Boston Globe, front page, Friday March 31, 1989
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


If even the LIBERAL media can't hide this finding, how bad do you think it
REALLY is for the pro-choicers, in the real world?


=============================================================================
>##       "My logic is based on ... a religious perspective which says
>##  that personhood begins at birth (actually a month after birth if
>##  we want to be precise)..."
>##    -- Gloria Feldt,
>##       chief executive, Planned Parenthood of Central and Northern Arizona

>##   "I see nothing extreme or reprehensible about this statement."
>##     -- garvin+@cs.cmu.edu (Susan Garvin) <BtnDAw.Iwo.2@cs.cmu.edu>
=============================================================================
-----Steve Chaney: Founder, Borg Operating Space Systems, Revision 2.0-------
                  The B.O.S.S. does not speak for CSUS.
Xref: sparky talk.abortion:42054 alt.abortion.inequity:4357