A majority of Americans would offer emotional support to a friend or family member who wanted to get an abortion, according to a new study.
The finding that people are willing to cross ideological and partisan lines to help others in their personal networks was written by the authors of the paper.
At first glance, these people may appear to be hypocrites. Sarah Cowan, a sociologist at New York University and the lead author of the article, said in a statement that they are not.
They are at a moral crossroads because of their opposition to abortion and their inclination to support people they care about.
After Texas passed a law allowing residents of the state to file lawsuits against others who aided or abetted abortions performed after six weeks of pregnancy, the study was drawn from surveys and interviews conducted in the last two years.
The Supreme Court could soon rule that abortion is not a constitutional right. The issue is deeply divisive and divides the public along political lines.
The new study was based on responses from more than 1,500 people.
76 percent of those who were morally opposed said they would offer emotional support, compared to 96 percent of those who were not morally opposed.
The authors said that the type of support varied greatly, reflecting the social meaning of money and the view that spending money is a means to enforce one's values.
Only 6 percent of those morally opposed would help a friend or relative pay for the procedure, compared to 45 percent who would help with ancillary costs.
54 percent of those not morally opposed would help pay for the procedure.
Social scientists are interested in what causes helpful behavior.
Factors are thought to include the act of kindness, a sense of duty to their kinship networks, and expectation of reciprocity in the future.
The authors said that scenarios where the helpers were placed in a moral conflict were less studied.
The people who were willing to help despite their opposition relied on three main rationalizations.
The first was that people are worthy of care despite their flaws.
The idea that what is right or wrong is personal, not universal, was the second and third idea.
Ryan said he would want to talk to his sister to make sure she was thinking about everything.
If she is like "No, (Ryan), I can handle this", then you know what I mean. It is just because you love someone.
Agence France-Presse
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