Roe v. Wade
What percentage of Americans think abortion should be legal in all or most cases?
How accurate was your prediction?
What story does the graph tell?
Over the past quarter century how consistent were American beliefs about abortion?
Why do you think public opinion has remained so consistent?
What is one consequence of this consistency?
Describe how you think this chart on public opinion on abortion will look over the next quarter century.
How much has your opinion on this topic changed in your lifetime?
Do you know anyone who has changed their mind about abortion?
Imagine that hypothetically the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, making abortion illegal in all or most cases. How do you think that decision would impact public opinion?
What are some aspects of any public opinion poll that make its results more reliable?
Describe how you could change the wording of the poll to change the results of the polling data.
Explain any relationship between the legality of abortion and federalism.
Explain any relationship between the legality of abortion and checks and balances.
Explain whether you believe the Supreme Court will strike down the legality of abortion.
Let’s say that you felt the Supreme Court was not going to outlaw abortion but you still wanted a legal method to to make abortion illegal in the United States. Describe how you could achieve this goal.
What are some things interest groups do to try to influence public opinion on this issue?
How do demographics impact opinion on abortion?*
How do American abortion laws compare to other countries around the world?*
What portion of Republicans and what portion of Democrats favor legal abortion?*
Is the Republican platform position against abortion or the Democratic platform position for abortion closer to public opinion?
Explain why a political party would take a position that is so unpopular and divergent from public opinion.
Sometimes public opinion shifts quickly on a particular issue: same-sex marriage, for example. Other times public opinion remains relatively stable and unchanging over time: abortion, for example. Why do you think some public opinion is so unchanging while other public opinion is more changing?
Upon what basis is abortion legal in the United States?
Is there a specific place in the U.S. Constitution that explicitly makes abortion legal?
How did the 1965 ruling in Griswold v. Connecticut help lay the foundation for the ruling in Roe v. Wade?
Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973 in a 7-2 ruling based on a right to privacy guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. But the words, “right to privacy” are not explicitly in the Constitution. Look at the following Amendments and explain whether, in your opinion, they add up to a right of privacy:
Visual Extension*
