Attitudes toward Abortion among U.S. Catholics: Another Case of Symbolic Politics?

Objective. Although American's attitudes toward abortion have been a topic of great interest for the last thirty years, their relationship to processes involving symbolic politics has not been fully explored. This paper focuses on that connection among Catholic parishioners. Methods. Survey data from a representative sample of registered parishioners are used to examine hypothesized relationships. Although parish-connected Catholics do tend to be slightly older and slightly more conservative on some issues and are more likely to be female than Catholics in general, the sample is not composed of highly "traditionalistic" individuals. Findings reinforce the conclusion that Catholics who oppose abortion are most likely to be shaped by both sexual and religious orientations, once other factors have been taken into account. These findings are interpreted in the light of emerging theories of cultural politics. Results. Results from OLS analyses indicate that attitudes about the expression of sexuality, woman's autonomy, and religious orientation display the strongest net relationships to abortion attitudes. Conclusions. Findings reinforce the conclusion that Catholics who oppose abortion are most likely to be shaped by both sexual and religious orientations, once other factors have been taken into account. These findings are interpreted in the light of emerging theories of cultural politics.