The Social Sciences (look in your psychology or sociology textbooks) have revealed the idea of a "homosexual continuum".
The Chart looks like this, to give you a basic idea.
(if the image doesn't work, look for it at this webpage. http://web.lemoyne.edu/~hevern/psy285/psy285lectures/21Sex_1.html)
Basically, they are claiming that homosexual orientation is not set in "black and white"; rather, many people experience varying degrees of being attracted to the same sex.
Well Grippy, what in blazes does a homosexual continuum have anything to do with the abortion debate? There is a possibility!!
For I am borrowing the idea of this continuum as a model for formatting people's beliefs about abortion. However, I must warn that I have done absolutely no serious studies to test this continuum. I only blended the ideas up after some observations about people's beliefs about abortion. So please regard my theoretical chart as nothing more than rudimentary/crude. Feedback is MORE than welcome. wink
Look here~
We have our total, opposite polarities. the one that is pro-life, and the one that is pro-choice. in between those positions are a few "shades of gray" though. A lot of people really lie between those shades of gray in their beliefs. Yes, No? read on.
1) on the extreme end (let's just say, the left-end so you can visualize this chart), you have the total adherence to pro-life. This is defined as "advocating preserving the life of all conceptualized potential humans, without any regard to the mother." I'm willing to wager that many pro-life people arn't even that fervant to believe that.
2) Next, we have primarly pro-life beliefs, with a dash of pro-choice beliefs. These people would believe in preserving the mother's life if it was danger, or even in other riskier physical-health conditions. Nothing else though. (Being raped isn't a strong enough response to allow for abortion.)
3) Thirdly, we have primarly pro-life beliefs, but with more than incidental pro-choice beliefs. These people not only agree to preserving the mother's life (and physical health in general) in danger, but also believe in preserving the mother if her wholistic health is in DANGER- but ONLY if the situation was out of her control/will (such as rape). (the major difference between this side and the 5th area of the continuum is that the SITUATION the mom was in will factor whether they support preserving the mother or not.
4) Fourthly, we have... kind of an equilibrium between pro-life and pro-choice beliefs. The life of the mother and the life of the child are of seemingly equal importance? (a very hard viewpoint to fully embrace for many, I must add). I think the importance of this viewpoint is of the situation the mother was in, as well as the current developmental period the potential child is in. If you want a mental image, think of balancing scales. The undecided people in the abortion debate could be squeezed in here.
5) Moving further right, we see primarly pro-choice beliefs, but with more than incidental pro-life beliefs. There is the belief in preserving the mother if it was wholistically damaging to her to a reasonable amount (psychological, mental, spiritual, emotional, etc). It does not require serious damage to the woman for these people to support abortion. However, "perceived" irresponsibility is staunchly fought against.
6) Sixthly, we see primarly pro-choice beliefs, but with only a dash of pro-life beliefs. The situation that the mother was in to bring her to her pregnancy doesn't matter. Unless she was perceived as "irresponsible". But even then, beliefs that the fetus should be preserved out of spite of said mother's irresponsibility arn't that strong.
7) Lastly, on the total right of the current spectrum, we see the total adherence to pro-choice beliefs. This is defined as "advocating allowing all pregnant women the empowerment to make their own choices about their body, without any regard to the potential child." The situation that brought the woman to her circumstances doesn't matter AT ALL.
no, this chart does not take into consideration about the father, the family, her community, the doctor, her god, and whatever else. It's just about people's beliefs about the woman and clump of non-sentient cells in her body.
Please feel free to critique, comment, or ask questions to and about this chart. smile
