Amy Adamczyk's "Fetal Positions" offers a comprehensive analysis of cross-national public opinion on abortion. The book examines the interplay between individual attitudes and national contexts, exploring how factors like religious belief, economic development, and government structures shape views on abortion. Adamczyk uses large-scale surveys, interviews, and media analysis to reveal complex patterns and nuances in global abortion attitudes. The study distinguishes between beliefs and behaviors, macro-level factors and personal characteristics, providing a nuanced understanding of this multifaceted issue. The book's findings challenge simplistic assumptions and offer valuable insights for policymakers and researchers alike.
Most people think about abortion in the context of the country they live in. In the U.S., abortion fuels debate, elections, and legislation. In China, abortion is often treated as a settled issue. Why and how do abortion attitudes vary across the world?
In her new book, Fetal Positions: Understanding Cross-National Public Opinion about Abortion (Oxford UP, 2025), Dr. Amy Adamczyk examines the factors influencing cross-national abortion opinion, rates and individual abortion decisions. She investigates the relationship between attitudes and laws, and explores how personal and national characteristics shape views on abortion. Using large-scale public opinion surveys, interviews from two case study countries, and an analysis of newspaper articles from over 40 countries, she argues that cross-national differences in public opinion can largely be explained based on overall levels of religious belief, economic and educational development, type of government and government history, and gender inequality. The book distinguishes beliefs from behaviors and macro factors from personal characteristics to analyze the forces shaping cross-national abortion rates and personal abortion decisions.
Dr. Amy Adamczyk is a sociology professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and The Graduate Center at the City University of New York. Her work unravels the religious, cultural and social forces shaping public opinion on controversial issues like abortion, same-sex relations, premarital sex, and marijuana and terrorism. Her many earlier books include, Cross-National Public Opinion about Homosexuality: Examining Attitudes across the Globe (University of California Press 2017).
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New Books in Sociology