Although abortion has been a topic of hot debate for decades, many Americans don’t actually know too much about it.
The University of Cincinnati recently conducted research showing that eight out of 10 Americans do not know basic information about this procedure. The researchers tested several areas including the number of women who have abortions, the risk of abortion as opposed to giving birth and certain conditions that some report as being linked to abortion. Less than 50 percent of people correctly answered each of the questions posed.
For example, 41 percent of those surveyed knew approximately how many women have an abortion before they are 45 years old. For those who don’t know, the answer to that question is one in every three. Furthermore, a significant percentage of people did not know about the abortion laws in the United States.
It was reported that 17 percent were unaware that abortion is legal during the first three months of pregnancy in this country. Not only does debate exist about the topic itself, but controversy also appears as to which states, the red or blue states, are more informed about the topic.
This survey found that no significant difference is present. People in both the red and blue states were equally inaccurate in their answers to the questions about abortion.
While this research cannot answer the moral question of abortion, it certainly does point to the fact that individuals in the United States need to be better educated about the topic.