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Chapter 5 Culture War Summary

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Chapter five in Culture War? addresses the issue of abortion. The chapter begins by talking about the 1973 Supreme Court decision in Roe vs. Wade, making abortion legal during the first trimester of pregnancy. While certain people argue for abortion, religious groups attempt to demonstrate their right which is the “orthodox” position. However, the public faces misconceptions regarding the issue. The belief that the country is extremely polarized on abortion is not true. Figure 5.5 explains how the people who belong to a church versus those who do not differ less on the issue of abortion that stereotypes would suggest. According to the graph on page 87, the difference between those who attend church regularly, about once a month, or less show a difference of about two circumstances, suggesting that abortion is not just a “religious war”. …show more content…

While Republicans who are extremely pro-life can be seen as “out of step” with women, the same can be said for the men as well. The extreme pro-choice Democrats also have political opinions that tend to be different from the public’s opinion in general. Figure 5.9 on page 98 shows that there is practically no difference between the stance that men and women have on abortion. Another misconception states that the gender gap comes from women becoming Democrats; rather, the gender gap comes from men changing their political views. A bill signed by President Bush outlawing partial birth abortion caused controversy, where the conflict resulted from the American public being subject to the “myths” of abortion such as contrasting genders of pro-choice and pro-life, contrasting genders of legislative supporters and activist opponents, and extreme rhetoric (page 107). Overall, misconceptions make Americans believe that there is a gender gap and large polarization level present in regards to the issue of

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