Abortion Politics in the United States and Canada ― Studies in Public Opinion

This edited collection examines various aspects of the explosive abortion issue in the United States and Canada. In both countries, decisions of the national supreme court have made access to legal abortion easier than had previously been the case. This volume looks at the aftermath of Roe v. Wade in the U.S. and Morgantaler v. Regina in Canada. Individual chapters deal with the rhetoric of public discourse, public opinion at the mass level, political reasoning on the part of religious and pro-life activists, and the role of religion in political socialization on the abortion issue. Methodologically, the volume includes survey research, content analysis, participant observation, and political theory. The list of contributors includes some of the leading political scientists and sociologists working in the field.

TED G. JELEN is Professor of Political Science at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. He is the author of three books published by Praeger:The Political World of the Clergy (1993), The Political Mobilization of Religious Beliefs (1991), andReligion and American Political Behavior (1989).

MARTHE A. CHANDLER is Associate Professor of Philosophy and Religion at DePauw University in Indiana.