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Abortion Politics in Congress
This book examines how legislators have juggled their passions over
abortion with standard congressional procedures, looking at how both
external factors (such as public opinion ) and internal factors (such as
the ideological composition of committees and party systems) shape
the development of abortion policy. Driven by both theoretical and
empirical concerns, Scott H. Ainsworth and Thad E. Hall present a
simple, formal model of strategic incrementalism , illustrating that
legislators often have incentives to alter policy incrementally. They
then examine the sponsorship of abortion-related proposals as well
as their c ommittee referral and fi nd that a wide range of Democratic
and Republican legislators repeatedly offer abortion-related proposals
designed to alter abortion policy incrementally . A bortion Politics in
Congress reveals that abortion debates have permeated a wide range
of issues and that a wide range of legislators and a large number of
committees address abortion.
Scott H. Ainsworth is an associate professor of political science in
the School of Public and International Affairs at the University of
Georgia. His work on lobbying, interest groups , and the U.S. Congress
has appeared in numerous outlets, including the A merican Journal of
Political Science, Journal of Politics, and L egislative Studies Quarterly.
He is the author of A nalyzing Interest Groups.
Thad E. Hall is an associate professor of political science and a research
Fellow at the Center for Public Policy and Administration at the
University of Utah. He has authored or coauthored three books – P oint,
Click, and Vote: The Future of Internet Voting; Electronic Elections: The
Perils and Promise of Digital Democracy; and Authorizing Policy – and
coedited the book E lection Fraud: Detecting and Preventing Electoral
Manipulation . He has written more than twenty articles and book
chapters examining various aspects of public policy.
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Abortion Politics in Congress
Strategic Incrementalism and Policy Change
SCOTT H . A INSWORTH
University of Georgia
THAD E. HALL
University of Utah
cambridge university press
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São Paulo, Delhi, Dubai, Tokyo, Mexico City
Cambridge University Press
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www.cambridge.org
Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521740043
© Scott H. Ainsworth and Thad E. Hall 2011
This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception
and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements,
no reproduction of any part may take place without the written
permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published 2011
Printed in the United States of America
A catalog record for this publication is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication data
Ainsworth, Scott H.
Abortion politics in congress : strategic incrementalism and policy
change / Scott H. Ainsworth, Thad E. Hall.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978-0-521-51581-8 (hardback) – isbn 978-0-521-74004-3 (pbk.)
1. Abortion – Law and legislation – United States. 2. Abortion – Government
policy – United States. 3. Abortion – Political aspects – United States. I. Hall,
Thad E. (Thad Edward), 1968– II. Title.
kf9315.a96 2011
362.19′88800973–dc22 2010031511
isbn 978-0-521-51581-8 Hardback
isbn 978-0-521-74004-3 Paperback
Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or
accuracy of urls for external or third-party Internet Web sites referred to in
this publication and does not guarantee that any content on such Web sites is,
or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
Contents
List of Tables page viii
List of Figures x
Acknowledgments xi
PART I STRATEGIC INCREMENTALISM AND THE POLITICAL
BACKDROP FOR ABORTION POLITICS IN CONGRESS
1 Some of the Politics Surrounding Abortion Policy 3
Introduction 3
Incremental Imperative 9
Why Abortion? 1 4
Previous Work on Abortion 1 6
Summary 2 2
Research Questions for This Book 23
Plan for the Book 24
2 The Strategic Foundations for Incrementalism
in Legislatures 2 7
Introduction 2 7
Incrementalism and Public Policy 2 9
Interpretations of Incrementalism 2 9
Critiques of Incrementalism 30
Theories of Nonincremental Activity 3 2
Formal Models of Legislative Politics 3 6
Working on the Inside and Looking Out 3 9
Vote Maximization or Policy Gains 40
Sabotage 44
Informational Constraints 4 8
From the Outside Looking In 5 0
v
vi Contents
Is Abortion Incremental or Nonincremental? 5 1
Summary 5 3
3 The Nature of Congress and Incrementalism in Abortion
Politics: Views from the Inside and Views from the Outside 5 6
Introduction 5 6
Party Connection 6 0
The Ideological Composition of Congress and
Abortion Politics 6 1
Ideological Space and Committees 66
Intracommittee Bifurcation 67
Committee Median–Floor Median Congruence 68
Majority Party Committee Median–Floor Median Congruence 69
Majority Party Committee Median–Majority Party
Floor Median Congruence 71
The External Environment: Public Attitudes about Abortion 7 2
Stability of Attitudes 72
A Split in Attitudes: Traumatic v. Elective Abortion 74
Underlying Core Beliefs 77
Demographic Variables 78
Targeting Public Opinion: A Legislative View
of Abortion Attitudes 7 9
Conclusion 8 3
Appendix 3.1 8 5
Appendix 3.2 8 7
4 A Short Legislative History of Abortion 9 0
Courts and the Idea of Legislating Abortion Policy 9 0
The Evolution of the U.S. House of Representatives
and Abortion Politics 9 3
The Effect of Abortion on Other Issues 9 4
The Range of Abortion-Related Proposals 1 00
Incremental Efforts 100
Hyde Amendments 101
China and Abortion Policy 103
Partial-Birth Abortion 106
Pro-Life Nonincremental Failures 1 08
Pro-Choice Nonincremental Failures 1 10
Symbolic Politics 1 12
Abortion Trends – 93rd through 108th Congresses 1 14
Conclusion 1 20
PART II ABORTION IN THE HOUSE
5 Sponsors of Abortion Policies 1 25
Introduction 1 25
Contents vii
Pro-Choice and Pro-Life Sponsors 1 26
Incrementalism and Abortion-Related Proposals 1 31
Religion and Abortion 1 34
Sponsoring Incremental or Nonincremental
Abortion-Related Proposals 1 38
Summary 1 47
6 Playing the Field: Committee Referrals
of Abortion-Related Proposals 1 49
Introduction 1 49
Referrals in Congress 1 53
Technological Advances and Committee Referrals 1 55
Strategic Advocates and Committee Referrals 1 57
The Rise and Fall of the Constitutional Amendment 1 59
The Abortion Strategy Shift: New Venues 1 61
What Explains the Loss of Control by Judiciary? 1 64
Considering Pro-Life Proposals 165
Accounting for Symbolic Proposals 170
Achieving Legislative Successes 1 72
Discussion 1 75
Conclusion 1 76
7 Conclusion 178
Introduction 1 78
Types of Policy Change 1 83
Strategic Incrementalism 186
Nonincremental Failures 191
Institutional Venues for the Abortion Debate:
Courts or Legislatures? 1 92
Understanding Our Political Institutions 1 94
Models of Legislatures 1 94
Legislators’ Decision Calculus 196
Issue Ownership and Electoral Competition 1 99
Elections 200
Shifting Foundations for Public Opinion 200
The Full Picture, the Final Statement 2 01
References 205
Index 221
Tables
3.1 Top Sponsors of Abortion Legislation, 94th–108th
Congresses page 59
3.2 NOMINATE Ideological Scores for Key House
Positions, 94th–108th Congresses 6 3
A3.2 Multiple Sponsors of Abortion Legislation,
93rd–108th Congresses 8 7
4.1 OLS Regression Results for Legislative Workload and
Abortion-Related Proposals, 93rd–103rd Congresses 9 7
4.2 Incremental and Nonincremental Proposals 1 17
4.3 Pro-Choice and Pro-Life Abortion-Related Proposals
by Party 120
5.1 Pro-Life and Pro-Choice Proposals, 94th–108th Congresses 1 27
5.2 Platform Positions of Democratic and Republican
Parties on Abortion 1 29
5.3 Percent and Volume of Pro-Life Legislation Over Time,
93rd–108th Congresses 1 30
5.4 Incremental and Nonincremental Bills by Party
and Ideology, 93rd–108th Congresses 1 32
5.5 Incrementalism and Nonincrementalism During Different
Time Periods, 93rd–108th Congresses 1 33
5.6 Pro-Life or Pro-Choice Bills by Representative’s Religion,
93rd–108th Congresses 1 35
5.7 Pro-Life Nonincremental Legislation Over Time,
by Religious Affi liation, 93rd–108th Congresses 1 36
viii
