There appear to be plenty of people with that position (at least where I am) even looking at revealed preferences. (Specifically: the number of sexually active girls I know in my home town who have had a child in their teens isn’t much smaller than a Fermi estimate of the number of them who would have gotten pregnant at some point (ETA: based on what I know about the failure rates of contraception), so there’s a sizeable fraction of people who decide not to abort their own children. OTOH I can’t see many people doing anything to try to make abortion illegal. Now, it could be that those girls for some reason are less likely to abort than the general population, but “high-school students, often politically left-wing” is about the last demographic for which I’d expect that to be the case.)
EDIT: According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion_in_Italy, “[a] proposal to repeal the law [allowing abortion] was considered in a 1981 national referendum, but was rejected by nearly 68% of voters” (and given the fact that the quorum for referendums to be valid in Italy is the majority of people eligible to vote, lots of the people who want to keep the status quo will usually just stay home and not vote), but “[i]n 1993, the abortion ratio in Italy was 9.8 per 1,000 live births”. Now stuff might have changed in those 12 years, but still… (Nice that wild-ass estimates I got from just looking around aren’t way far off.)
EDIT: I know there likely are lots of clandestine abortions going on in certain parts of Italy, but even if the statistic of 9.8/1,000 was off by a factor of—say-- 3, my point would still hold.)
Forgive me if I have misunderstood you, but you appear to be saying:
In your home town, most girls who got pregnant as teens kept the baby.
These girls are no less likely to abort than the general population.
Neither these girls nor anyone else is trying to make abortion illegal.
Therefore
Judging by revealed preference, there are lots of people who think that abortion is immoral but should not be illegal.
I do not see how (4) follows from (1), (2) and (3). Firstly, getting pregnant is a benefit as well as a cost—being pro-choice doesn’t mean you will have an abortion even if you want the baby. Secondly, political activism is a niche activity, and “teenage single mum” is not exactly the most represented demographic among political activists. You don’t distinguish among the groups:
Thinks abortion is immoral, and should be illegal, but not politically active.
Thinks abortion is morally permissible, and should not be illegal, but wanted to keep the baby.
Genuinely thinks abortion is morally permissible and should not be illegal.
Does not have deeply considered moral views on the matter. If asked, the response will be very sensitive to the wording of the question. Not politically active.
IMO groups (1), (2) and especially (4) have many more members than (3).
I do not understand your point about Italy at all. Could you perhaps clarify?
Since you say “political activism is a niche activity” I think you had in mind bigger things than I was thinking. When I said anything (emphasis in the original), I meant anything. I can’t even remember the last time I saw a Facebook post proposing to stop abortion (whereas I see such posts about—say—vivisection all the time). And
Firstly, getting pregnant is a benefit as well as a cost—being pro-choice doesn’t mean you will have an abortion even if you want the baby.
Well, if you want a baby you don’t use contraception (not even coitus interruptus) in the first place. If you do, but it fails and you get pregnant anyway, and you still don’t abort...Since you say “political activism is a niche activity” I think you had in mind bigger things than I was thinking. When I said anything (emphasis in the original), I meant anything. I can’t even remember the last time I saw a Facebook post about abortion.
Well, if you want a baby you don’t use contraception (not even coitus interruptus) in the first place. If you do, but it fails and you get pregnant anyway, and you still don’t abort...
With respect, I think this is far too simplistic an analysis. I too know teenage single mums who got pregnant by accident, but they didn’t talk about the morality of abortion as a factor in their decision.
There appear to be plenty of people with that position (at least where I am) even looking at revealed preferences. (Specifically: the number of sexually active girls I know in my home town who have had a child in their teens isn’t much smaller than a Fermi estimate of the number of them who would have gotten pregnant at some point (ETA: based on what I know about the failure rates of contraception), so there’s a sizeable fraction of people who decide not to abort their own children. OTOH I can’t see many people doing anything to try to make abortion illegal. Now, it could be that those girls for some reason are less likely to abort than the general population, but “high-school students, often politically left-wing” is about the last demographic for which I’d expect that to be the case.)
EDIT: According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion_in_Italy, “[a] proposal to repeal the law [allowing abortion] was considered in a 1981 national referendum, but was rejected by nearly 68% of voters” (and given the fact that the quorum for referendums to be valid in Italy is the majority of people eligible to vote, lots of the people who want to keep the status quo will usually just stay home and not vote), but “[i]n 1993, the abortion ratio in Italy was 9.8 per 1,000 live births”. Now stuff might have changed in those 12 years, but still… (Nice that wild-ass estimates I got from just looking around aren’t way far off.)
EDIT: I know there likely are lots of clandestine abortions going on in certain parts of Italy, but even if the statistic of 9.8/1,000 was off by a factor of—say-- 3, my point would still hold.)
Forgive me if I have misunderstood you, but you appear to be saying:
In your home town, most girls who got pregnant as teens kept the baby.
These girls are no less likely to abort than the general population.
Neither these girls nor anyone else is trying to make abortion illegal. Therefore
Judging by revealed preference, there are lots of people who think that abortion is immoral but should not be illegal.
I do not see how (4) follows from (1), (2) and (3). Firstly, getting pregnant is a benefit as well as a cost—being pro-choice doesn’t mean you will have an abortion even if you want the baby. Secondly, political activism is a niche activity, and “teenage single mum” is not exactly the most represented demographic among political activists. You don’t distinguish among the groups:
Thinks abortion is immoral, and should be illegal, but not politically active.
Thinks abortion is morally permissible, and should not be illegal, but wanted to keep the baby.
Genuinely thinks abortion is morally permissible and should not be illegal.
Does not have deeply considered moral views on the matter. If asked, the response will be very sensitive to the wording of the question. Not politically active.
IMO groups (1), (2) and especially (4) have many more members than (3).
I do not understand your point about Italy at all. Could you perhaps clarify?
Since you say “political activism is a niche activity” I think you had in mind bigger things than I was thinking. When I said anything (emphasis in the original), I meant anything. I can’t even remember the last time I saw a Facebook post proposing to stop abortion (whereas I see such posts about—say—vivisection all the time). And
Well, if you want a baby you don’t use contraception (not even coitus interruptus) in the first place. If you do, but it fails and you get pregnant anyway, and you still don’t abort...Since you say “political activism is a niche activity” I think you had in mind bigger things than I was thinking. When I said anything (emphasis in the original), I meant anything. I can’t even remember the last time I saw a Facebook post about abortion.
With respect, I think this is far too simplistic an analysis. I too know teenage single mums who got pregnant by accident, but they didn’t talk about the morality of abortion as a factor in their decision.
That’s why I said I was talking about revealed preferences.