Catholicism and Abortion Attitudes in the American States: A Contextual Analysis

Abstract

With regard to abortion it is possible that the Catholic Church influences only individual members of its laity that Church influence extends beyond its membership or that a large Catholic presence within a state may give rise to a pro-choice countermobilization. Non-Catholics may alter their views if they feel threatened by a dominant Catholic majority even if those non-Catholic individuals are relative atheists. 1990 state exit poll data from midterm elections are used to determine how Roman Catholicism affects abortion attitudes. The authors compare individual-level effects in which the Church socializes individual members with contextual effects in which the Church affects abortion attitudes by altering the terms of the debate outside of the Churchs membership. Both effects were statistically significant although the contextual effects of Catholicism were negative. The analysis therefore suggests that the Catholic Church is rather effective in teaching anti-abortion attitudes to its members but that a strong Catholic presence in a particular state occasions countermobilization by non-Catholics.