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American Morning

Abortion Views

Aired July 03, 2003 - 07:18   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: A new study suggests that fewer women consider keeping abortion legal as a top priority. The survey was conducted by the Center for the Advancement of Women. The group's president, Faye Wattleton, was the head of Planned Parenthood for 14 years.
Earlier this morning, I talked to her about the survey, and asked if she was surprised by the results.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FAYE WATTLETON, PRESIDENT, CENTER FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN: We were surprised with the results of the study. This is a 3,000 study of women around the country that is representative of women. But what surprises most were the important issues that women want to see a new women's movement addressed. At the top of the list was the prevention of violence against women, and that was really quite a surprise to us in the findings.

COLLINS: Why?

WATTLETON: Well, usually it's equal pay for equal work, and healthcare and child care. And the fact that violence topped the list of the priorities that women felt that a new women's movement should be addressed -- or should address was really quite surprising. And we don't know whether this is because women are having more experience with violence and now they're wanting to talk about it more, or whether the issue has just been given so much attention that women feel that it is really the No. 1 priority.

COLLINS: Let's go ahead look at some of the numbers now just specifically. Thirty-four percent of women said that abortion should only be available in cases of rape, incest or to save a woman's life. And 17 percent of women said that abortion should not be available at all. Together, that means 51 percent want to see, at the very least, strict limits on abortion. So, are you concerned that these results might be used as ammunition, if you will, by the pro-life movement?

WATTLETON: I think that there is every reason to believe that people who want to see abortion made illegal and dangerous for women will find comfort in these numbers. On the other hand, women in the poll told us that they did not believe that the Supreme Court would overturn Roe v. Wade, or legal abortion. So, perhaps this is a reflection of women wanting to be more conservative about this issue and more thoughtful about it, but also not fearing that it will be overturned. And I think the important point that the poll shows us is that while abortion may not be given a high priority in a women's movement, this is something that is really important to connect to all of the other concerns that women have around violence, around health care and around child care, because if we can't control our reproduction, we really cannot really fulfill our other aspirations as women.

COLLINS: Another finding of the survey was that on a list of 12 priorities for women in 2003, keeping abortion legal actually comes second to last, beating out more organized sports for girls. Why are abortion rights such a low priority?

WATTLETON: Well, as I just said, I think that in this case it was a priority and it does not represent an immediate threat. Women can get legal abortions in this country. They don't believe that the Supreme Court will overturn Roe v. Wade.

So, their focus is on, how do I prevent violence in my home? How do I not become a victim of domestic abuse? How do I receive access to health care? How do I get good health care information? There are a lot of myths and misconceptions about health care. How do I get child care when I have to work? Those are the issues that women are really concerned about, and they want politicians to address them.

COLLINS: You know, we should talk about the other side of this as well. When asked about the results of this poll, Wendy Wright, the senior analyst at Concerned Women for America, said the following: "The trend is going to continue in that direction, as people become more aware of what abortion does to women and the baby there will be a wider spread revulsion."

What do you think about that?

WATTLETON: What we think is that women are more successful in preventing unintended pregnancy, but in spite of the statement that you've just read, over a million women every year in this country terminate an unwanted pregnancy. The question is not whether abortion will take place, but rather whether it will be done under legal circumstances. And women do not feel that the legality of abortion is threatened now, and that's why they want to turn to other issues in their lives that are more important to the day-to-day quality of their lives. And those are the issues that they want a new women's movement to focus on.

Yes, we must be vigilant about reproductive rights, because the centrality of our ability to control our reproduction is really key to our ability to work, to care for our families, to contribute to our family income, to contribute to the domestic responsibilities. But it is not the priority that it might be if women felt that this issue was threatened.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: We should also mention that a lot of polls that were done at the same time as this one yielded some surprising results, and experts say that could have had something to do with the fact that it was done during a time when the economy was struggling and also the eminent war that was pending.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.







Aired July 3, 2003 - 07:18   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: A new study suggests that fewer women consider keeping abortion legal as a top priority. The survey was conducted by the Center for the Advancement of Women. The group's president, Faye Wattleton, was the head of Planned Parenthood for 14 years.
Earlier this morning, I talked to her about the survey, and asked if she was surprised by the results.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FAYE WATTLETON, PRESIDENT, CENTER FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN: We were surprised with the results of the study. This is a 3,000 study of women around the country that is representative of women. But what surprises most were the important issues that women want to see a new women's movement addressed. At the top of the list was the prevention of violence against women, and that was really quite a surprise to us in the findings.

COLLINS: Why?

WATTLETON: Well, usually it's equal pay for equal work, and healthcare and child care. And the fact that violence topped the list of the priorities that women felt that a new women's movement should be addressed -- or should address was really quite surprising. And we don't know whether this is because women are having more experience with violence and now they're wanting to talk about it more, or whether the issue has just been given so much attention that women feel that it is really the No. 1 priority.

COLLINS: Let's go ahead look at some of the numbers now just specifically. Thirty-four percent of women said that abortion should only be available in cases of rape, incest or to save a woman's life. And 17 percent of women said that abortion should not be available at all. Together, that means 51 percent want to see, at the very least, strict limits on abortion. So, are you concerned that these results might be used as ammunition, if you will, by the pro-life movement?

WATTLETON: I think that there is every reason to believe that people who want to see abortion made illegal and dangerous for women will find comfort in these numbers. On the other hand, women in the poll told us that they did not believe that the Supreme Court would overturn Roe v. Wade, or legal abortion. So, perhaps this is a reflection of women wanting to be more conservative about this issue and more thoughtful about it, but also not fearing that it will be overturned. And I think the important point that the poll shows us is that while abortion may not be given a high priority in a women's movement, this is something that is really important to connect to all of the other concerns that women have around violence, around health care and around child care, because if we can't control our reproduction, we really cannot really fulfill our other aspirations as women.

COLLINS: Another finding of the survey was that on a list of 12 priorities for women in 2003, keeping abortion legal actually comes second to last, beating out more organized sports for girls. Why are abortion rights such a low priority?

WATTLETON: Well, as I just said, I think that in this case it was a priority and it does not represent an immediate threat. Women can get legal abortions in this country. They don't believe that the Supreme Court will overturn Roe v. Wade.

So, their focus is on, how do I prevent violence in my home? How do I not become a victim of domestic abuse? How do I receive access to health care? How do I get good health care information? There are a lot of myths and misconceptions about health care. How do I get child care when I have to work? Those are the issues that women are really concerned about, and they want politicians to address them.

COLLINS: You know, we should talk about the other side of this as well. When asked about the results of this poll, Wendy Wright, the senior analyst at Concerned Women for America, said the following: "The trend is going to continue in that direction, as people become more aware of what abortion does to women and the baby there will be a wider spread revulsion."

What do you think about that?

WATTLETON: What we think is that women are more successful in preventing unintended pregnancy, but in spite of the statement that you've just read, over a million women every year in this country terminate an unwanted pregnancy. The question is not whether abortion will take place, but rather whether it will be done under legal circumstances. And women do not feel that the legality of abortion is threatened now, and that's why they want to turn to other issues in their lives that are more important to the day-to-day quality of their lives. And those are the issues that they want a new women's movement to focus on.

Yes, we must be vigilant about reproductive rights, because the centrality of our ability to control our reproduction is really key to our ability to work, to care for our families, to contribute to our family income, to contribute to the domestic responsibilities. But it is not the priority that it might be if women felt that this issue was threatened.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: We should also mention that a lot of polls that were done at the same time as this one yielded some surprising results, and experts say that could have had something to do with the fact that it was done during a time when the economy was struggling and also the eminent war that was pending.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.