Poll Of Younger Religious Voters Shows Culture War Over Issues Including Abortion May Be Fading

Main Category: Abortion
Article Date: 13 Oct 2008 - 1:00 PDT

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Young Roman Catholics are more likely to support abortion rights in all or most circumstances than older Catholics, according to a survey of young religious voters conducted by Public Religion Research and released Wednesday by the group Faith in Public Life, the Washington Post reports. The survey, called "Faith and American Politics," found that six out of 10 young Catholics say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, compared with half of older Catholics. According to the survey, Catholic voters of all ages favor Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) over Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), with 51% in support of Obama and 40% in support of McCain (Boorstein, Washington Post, 10/9). Meanwhile, about 67% of white, young evangelicals said that abortion should be illegal in all or most cases.

For the survey, researchers interviewed 2,000 U.S. adults, including 1,250 people younger than age 35 (Draper, Denver Post, 10/8). According to Robert Jones, president of Public Religion Research, the survey indicated that younger U.S. residents of faith are "not the culture war generation." He added, "On issues from gay and lesbian rights to the role of government at home and around the world, young Catholics, mainline Protestants and evangelicals are bridging the divides that entrenched their elders and ushering in a new era of consensus in which the common good trumps the clash of ideologies." Katie Paris of Faith in Public Life said, "What this poll shows us is a glimpse of the future. The dividing lines of the culture war are shifting and sometimes fading" (Rowland, Columbus Dispatch, 10/9).

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