Opposition to abortion appears to stem in part from belief that too many women use abortion as a routine means for controlling births and that the availability of legal abortion encourages sexual activity among teenagers and unmarried couples. The authors draw several implications for improving public knowledge and awareness about demographic issues. The American public is not well-informed about the size and rate of growth of the world's population. Therefore, communicators are likely to interest public audiences more by discussing these issues in terms of their impact on individuals and families and their quality of life, rather than by focusing on aggregate statistics and trends. Despite strong support for U.S. government funding of international family planning programs, half of the respondents did not oppose congressional cuts in funding for family planning programs in developing countries.
Research shows that legal abortion can save women's lives.
Because opposition to abortion may temper support for family planning, it is important that the public be informed about the potential of family planning to reduce abortion. This research brief is also available in printed form . Population Matters is sponsored by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. Abstracts of all RAND documents are available for review on the web. RAND publications are distributed to the trade by National Book Network.