By Hilary White
WASHINGTON, January 19, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) –“Individuals exhibiting high levels of religious commitment are much more likely to oppose legalized abortion in all or most cases than those who are less-observant” concludes a recent report by the Pew Research Center.
Using data from the US Religious Landscape Survey of October 2008 the Pew study found that Christian Americans who go to church “weekly or more” are twice as likely to say that abortion should be illegal in “all or most cases.” 61 percent of weekly churchgoers, compared with only 31 percent of the general population opposed abortion. 54 percent of those who said they have an “absolutely certain belief in a personal God,” said they believed abortion should be illegal.
The religious affiliation whose members most frequently said abortion should be illegal in most or all cases is Jehovah’s Witness at 77%, followed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons) at 70. Evangelical Protestants had 61% opposed, those Protestant churches considered “historically black” at 46% and Catholics at 45% followed these. Among these religious groups, only the Catholic Church has an absolute prohibition on procured abortion even in the earliest stages of pregnancy.
This study by the Pew Forum reconfirms most other research showing opposition to abortion is directly related to Christian religious affiliation. Among other religions, abortion is less problematic. Muslim Americans came close to the overall national percentage with exactly half opposing abortion and half supporting legal abortion in all or most cases. 84% of Jews supported legal abortion in all or most cases, followed by 81% of Buddhists.
Other statistics from the Religious Landscape Survey might indicate a correlation between religious orthodoxy and opposition to abortion. Only 19% of the Catholic respondents said, “There is only one true way to interpret the teachings of my religion,” compared to 77% who took a more relativistic view. The “mainline” Protestant churches were similar with 82% agreeing that “there is more than one way to interpret the teachings of my religion.” 39% of the “historically black” Protestants said there is only one way to interpret their faith, followed by Mormons with 54% and Jehovah’s Witnesses with 77%.