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  • short reads

    The new legal battlefield over abortion

    Forty years after Roe v. Wade, the legal battles over abortion are far from over. In 2013 alone, state legislatures have enacted more than 40 new provisions aimed at restricting abortion access.

  • short reads

    Before pope’s comments, Latin American Catholics expressed acceptance of homosexuality

    Pope Francis made headlines yesterday in response to a question about the supposed “gay lobby” in the Vatican. The pope reportedly reaffirmed the Roman Catholic Church’s position that while homosexual acts were sinful, orientation was not. But he added, “If a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge […]

  • report

    Widening Regional Divide over Abortion Laws

    Overview While the balance of opinion toward abortion nationwide has remained largely steady over the past 20 years, there are widening disparities in public attitudes on the issue across different regions of the country. Opposition to legal abortion is highest in parts of the South – including Texas, which recently passed sweeping new abortion restrictions. […]

  • report

    More Evidence of Preference for Sons

    This posting is an excerpt from a FactTank article about unmarried fatherhood, and which fathers are more likely to acknowledge paternity when asked. Unmarried fathers of sons are slightly more likely to acknowledge paternity than fathers of daughters.

  • report

    Government Surveillance: A Question Wording Experiment

    Overview In the wake of leaked information about the government’s telephone and digital surveillance programs last month, public opinion surveys reported a wide range of reactions. For example, a Pew Research Center/Washington Post survey conducted immediately after the revelations found broad support for the program, while a Gallup survey conducted just days later found more […]

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    Few See Adequate Limits on NSA Surveillance Program

    Overview A majority of Americans – 56% – say that federal courts fail to provide adequate limits on the telephone and internet data the government is collecting as part of its anti-terrorism efforts. An even larger percentage (70%) believes that the government uses this data for purposes other than investigating terrorism. And despite the insistence […]