The religious especially are against abortion

Abortion is a topic that has been discussed, not only in our country, but everywhere in the world, for many years. Especially for Catholic societies, abortion has both religious and political facets and they largely oppose it. In the United States, even though abortion is allowed under certain circumstances, the pro- and anti-abortion debate is extremely fierce. In Europe, while the Nordic countries are very much in favor of abortion, others have lower averages.

The most significant information on abortion is provided by the “World and European Values Survey” [from the European Values Study Group]. Turkey was included in this survey for the first time in 1990.
Professor Yılmaz Esmer from the Center for Economic and Social Research (BETAM) at Bahçeşehir University has published a very interesting analysis based on these surveys. I took only the Turkey section, and I want to share it with you.

Looking at the first survey, from 1990, it is revealed that our country was far more tolerant on the subject of abortion then than it is today. If you take a look at the table below, the ratio of those who considered abortion to be the correct choice under four conditions were very high.



In the surveys that were conducted later, the first two questions on the above table were not asked, only the last two questions were asked. But even that is enough to show that the society’s values and approach to this issue had started to change.



Meanwhile, let’s not forget that in the period since the 1990s, religious conservatism has been continuously on the rise in our country. The change in the society’s stance becomes extremely evident together with the rise of conservatism between 1990 and 2008.

In the last survey in 2011, a different system was used, and the previous abortion questions were not asked, but people’s stances on abortion were tracked using different questions. The analysis Esmer has done based on the survey arrived at these conclusions:

 - As the level of religious conservatism increases, the tendency to object to abortion also increases.

 - As the level of education increases, the tendency to oppose abortion decreases.

 - As income levels increase, the tendency to oppose abortion decreases.

In short, the more religiousyl conservative segments of society and those that have a lower education level oppose abortion. The wealthy and the educated have a more tolerant approach toward the subject of abortion.

I guess this analysis explains very clearly the reasons that lie at the roots of the prime minister’s recent statements.