Pro-Life Trend

Much has been written about the latest Gallup poll showing that for the first time in history, a majority of Americans consider themselves “pro-life.” This is significant since just a year ago the percentages were reversed. Fifty percent described themselves as pro-choice and 44 percent described themselves as pro-life.

Critics rightly point out that this is just one poll. And they also believe we need to look beyond the self-identification labels of “pro-life” and “pro-choice.” Meanwhile pro-life proponents argue that this radical shift in values in due to promotion of abortion by the current administration and a rethinking of such pro-life issues as embryonic stem cell research.

I believe what this poll shows is the beginning of a demographic trend that many of us have been predicting for years. The prediction is based upon an assumption and an observation. The assumption is that children who grow up in pro-life homes are likely to have a pro-life worldview when they are adults. The observation is that more children are born in pro-life homes than in pro-choice homes.

The assumption seems relatively sound. Apparently it follows the classic “80-20 rule.” Political scientists have found that 80 percent of children select the same party preference as their parents. Twenty percent do reject their parents’ ideology, but still the most significant predictor of future ideology is parental values.

The observation is even more solid. In previous commentaries I have talked about Arthur Brookes who has found a substantial fertility gap between liberals and conservatives. Other social scientists like Phillip Longman has also noted a similar disparity between progressives and traditionalists.

Some writers point to a simple fact. Pro-choice parents had fewer children because they were more likely to abort them. The 50 million abortions since Roe v. Wade were not evenly distributed throughout the American population. A higher percentage of children were aborted in pro-choice homes.

If this assumption and observation is correct, then we should see the percentage of people describing themselves as pro-life increasing in years to come. I’m Kerby Anderson, and that’s my point of view.