[Reprint} How Dobbs Increased Support for Abortion Rights

 

Public opinion on abortion has shifted 4 years after Dobbs decision overturned Roe v. Wade

People gather in front of the Supreme Court building following the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling on June 24, 2022, in Washington, D.C. Nathan Howard/Getty Images

Laurel Elder, Hartwick College; Mary-Kate Lizotte, Augusta University, and Steven Greene, North Carolina State University

It’s been four years since the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization overturned Roe v. Wade, ending the federal constitutional right to abortion.

In the immediate aftermath of the decision, national attention centered on implementation of state bans and a rapidly shifting legal landscape.

But four years later, one of the most impactful developments has been less visible: a significant, sustained and politically consequential shift in public opinion. In the wake of Dobbs, the debate over abortion rights did not simply return to the states. It fundamentally altered how many Americans think about the issue and how they vote.

In our recently published book, “Not Going Back: Public Opinion on Abortion in Post-Dobbs America,” we examined how and why these changes have occurred, and what they mean for U.S. politics. We believe the shift could have real consequences for the November 2026 midterms.

Post-Roe stability

Drawing on several nationally representative surveys conducted before and after Dobbs, we examined how Americans’ abortion attitudes, political priorities and voting behavior have changed in response to the most significant shift in abortion policy in half a century.

For nearly 50 years after Roe, public opinion on abortion was remarkably stable. In 1975, Gallup found support for legal abortion in certain circumstances at 54% and support for a ban in all circumstances at 22%. In 2021 – the year before the Dobbs decision – these figures were virtually the same: 48% and 19%, respectively.

Despite heated political rhetoric, most Americans held nuanced views. They were neither fully anti-abortion nor fully pro-abortion. Instead, they supported legal abortion in some circumstances and not in others.

That underlying stability shaped both policy and politics for decades. Republicans were able to rally a committed core of supporters around opposition to Roe, while the underlying constitutional right to access abortion remained unchanged.

As states moved quickly after the Dobbs decision to enact abortion bans and strict gestational limits, public opinion moved in the opposite direction.

Today, more Americans identify as pro-choice than they did before Dobbs. And, as we document in our book, more Americans are now taking absolutist positions. They support legal access to abortion in all or most cases and oppose government regulation altogether.

How Dobbs shattered the equilibrium

One of the most striking changes in the post-Dobbs era concerns who cares most about abortion. For decades, abortion was a higher priority for Republicans and those identifying as pro-life.

That dynamic has now flipped. In both 2022 and 2024, Democrats and pro-choice Americans were more likely than Republicans to say abortion was a top political issue shaping their vote. In our book, we document how in both 2022 and 2024, pro-choice Democrats were especially motivated to vote and remained highly loyal to Democratic candidates.

At the same time, the considerable minority of Republicans who support legal abortion found themselves politically cross-pressured, meaning they experienced conflicting political influences.

#BookReview: Murder mystery in a haunted castle

 The Mystery at Dunvegan Castle, by T. L. Huchu (Tor)

This is the third volume of T. L. Huchu’s wonderful “Edinburgh Nights” series. I love the protagonist, a feisty, resourceful slum kid, Ropa Moyo. In magic-imbued, dystopic post-apocalyptic Scotland, Ropa and her sister live with their grandmother, who is steeped in the ancient ritual magic of her African ancestors. Ropa’s magic is of a different sort: she can talk to ghosts. Ropa’s path out of abject poverty lies through the formal academy of Scottish magic. At the beginning of The Mystery at Dunvegan Castle, Ropa is struggling with an unpaid internship, doing scut work for an international magical conference at Dunvegan Castle on the Isle of Skye. It’s the perfect opportunity for her to make connections and further her career. That is, until a vital magical scroll goes missing, a librarian is murdered, and her mentor casts a force-field spell over the castle to prevent the culprit’s escape.

On one level, this is a classic Agatha Christie style murder mystery, with suspects galore confined in a castle. Political and personal frictions abound, everyone has an ax to grind—including the resident ghosts—and the characters and plot twists kept me turning the pages. On another, it’s a story about difficult choices, about whether Ropa will be being valued or manipulated as a pawn. One of the things I look for in a compelling protagonist, particularly a young one, is agency: how much resourcefulness does this person have, and how will they determine their own fate? Ropa may not have material wealth or status, but her other qualities, including her unerring sense of justice, more than compensate.

Middle books present challenges, as exemplified by the dreaded second book of a trilogy that falls flat. Lots of things happen but the dramatic shape doesn’t match the dynamic beginning or the climactic end. In this case, the book is a bridge between Ropa finding her place at the academy and the choices she makes at the end. We don’t know where those choices will lead; that’s for the next book. Seen as a bridge with a significant amount of lack of conclusion, Mystery works well. These shortcomings are less significant than they would be for a stand-alone book or even the second book in a series because readers who have been following Ropa’s journey have already fallen in love with her over the previous two books. I know that I did!

Not a stand-alone, but readers of the series will want to gobble up the next volume!

[Reprint] The Science of Bones

 

Bones communicate with the rest of the body to support overall health – here’s the science behind your skeleton

Healing after a fracture is just one way your bones contribute to your body’s overall health. seksan Mongkhonkhamsao/Moment via Getty Images

Priya Bhardwaj, Washington University in St. Louis

Each year, doctors treat more than 6 million bone fractures in the United States. And while it takes only a few seconds for a bone to break, the processes that keep your bones strong and allow them to heal are taking place continuously throughout your life.

Beneath their hard surface, your bones are alive with activity, continuously being broken down, rebuilt and reshaped. Far from being static structures that simply support the body, bones are dynamic, living tissues that respond to physical activity, hormones and the body’s changing needs.

I am a research scientist who studies bone biology and mineral metabolism. To me, one of the most striking things about bone is how dynamic it is, despite its static appearance. Research over the past 15 to 20 years has demonstrated that this is even more true than scientists had previously realized.

More than just structural support

For decades, scientists have known that bone provides support, stores minerals and continuously remodels itself. This remodeling is the process bone uses to renew itself, maintaining its strength while allowing the skeleton to adapt over time.

Different kinds of bone cells work together to maintain bone structure. Cells called osteoclasts remove old or damaged bone, while osteoblasts build new bone in its place. Osteocytes, which are cells embedded within bone, help sense mechanical strain and coordinate how bone responds. Together, these cells help the skeleton stay strong.

But over the past two decades, new research has emerged that is changing how scientists and physicians think about skeletal health. More than just a structural framework, bone also functions as a highly active tissue that helps regulate the body’s mineral balance, supports blood cell production and communicates with multiple organ systems.

Growing evidence also suggests that in order to perform these functions, bones produce signaling molecules that influence energy metabolism and balance the minerals the body needs.

Lifelong support

The balance between bone formation and bone breakdown changes throughout life.

[Abstract] Preventing Dementia?

 Medical research has made tremendous strides in our understanding of how to prevent--or, at very least, delay--dementia. Many of these factors are within our control. Even better, many of them also lower the risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer.

Here's the abstract from The Lancet. <-- Click the link to register for access to the entire article.

The 2024 update of the Lancet Commission on dementia provides new hopeful evidence about dementia prevention, intervention, and care. As people live longer, the number of people who live with dementia continues to rise, even as the age-specific incidence decreases in high-income countries, emphasising the need to identify and implement prevention approaches. We have summarised the new research since the 2020 report of the Lancet Commission on dementia, prioritising systematic reviews and meta-analyses and triangulating findings from different studies showing how cognitive and physical reserve develop across the life course and how reducing vascular damage (eg, by reducing smoking and treating high blood pressure) is likely to have contributed to a reduction in age-related dementia incidence. Evidence is increasing and is now stronger than before that tackling the many risk factors for dementia that we modelled previously (ie, less education, hearing loss, hypertension, smoking, obesity, depression, physical inactivity, diabetes, excessive alcohol consumption [ie, >21 UK units, equivalent to >12 US units], traumatic brain injury [TBI], air pollution, and social isolation) reduces the risk of developing dementia. In this report, we add the new compelling evidence that untreated vision loss and high LDL cholesterol are risk factors for dementia.

[Reprint] How Childhood LGBTQ+ Stigma Can Harm Adult Relationships

This is so important to those affected by LGBTQ+ stigma and those who love them, I am reprinting it in its entirety (under Creative Commons license).

Childhood experiences of LGBTQ+ stigma can harm romantic relationships decades later – psychologists explain how to reconnect with yourself and your partner

Difficult experiences you had as a child may be putting a wedge between you and your partner. Dmytro Betsenko/Moment via Getty Images

Melissa Gates, Binghamton University, State University of New York and Christina Balderrama-Durbin, Binghamton University, State University of New York

Childhood rejection, discrimination and bullying can affect your well-being as an adult. If your friends, family or community pushed you away because of your sexuality or gender, these childhood experiences of prejudice can also affect your future relationships.

Many LGBTQ+ people encounter difficult experiences as children, including abuse, neglect and challenges at home, because of their sexuality or gender. Other negative experiences – including bullying, witnessing your peers be harassed or ostracized, and the need to conceal your identity to protect yourself – may make it especially challenging to accept your sexuality or gender as an adult.

Developing a negative self-view as a result of these harmful experiences during your formative years is not uncommon. Feelings of shame or unworthiness can carry into your 20s, 30s and beyond, harming your mental health along with your ability to form and maintain romantic relationships.

Fortunately, making meaning of your early experiences can help you heal, reconnecting and strengthening your relationships as a result.

Internalized stigma harms relationships

Our psychology research team focuses on understanding the connection between childhood anti-LGBTQ+ experiences, well-being and relationship health.

We found that a factor called internalized stigma can notably affect the romantic relationships of LGBTQ+ people. Internalized stigma refers to when society’s negative views and biases toward a part of your identity shapes how you think and feel about yourself. This can influence how you view romantic relationships and how you interact with your romantic partners.

People with higher levels of internalized stigma report more conflicts and less satisfaction in their relationships. Research suggests that internalized stigma can negatively affect key aspects of romantic relationships that keep people satisfied with their partners, including trust, connection and intimacy.