Disaggregating Reproductive Rights: Explaining Attitudes towards Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) Compared to Abortion in Europe

Despite an increasing number of individuals and couples employing assisted reproductive technology (ART) to achieve their family formation goals, what factors explain variation in ART attitudes are largely unaccounted for. ART is a reproductive health issue alongside abortion. In contrast to ART, relevant explanatory factors for understanding variation in abortion attitudes are clearly outlined in political science literature. On the country-level, which reproductive issues are politicized, and to what extent, varies greatly across Europe. As such, there is no convergence on how to legislate reproductive rights in Europe. This underlines the importance of discerning what drives the mobilization of both pro- and anti-reproductive rights movements, as well as the relationship between state action on reproductive issues and public opinion. To do so, mapping attitudes towards reproductive issues, and what explains variation in such attitudes, is a necessary first step. Thus, this paper asks: What explains attitudes towards assisted reproductive technology compared to abortion in Europe? In political science literature, little attention has been given to examining whether individual attitudes towards different reproductive issues are all driven by the same explanatory factors. This paper aims to provide insights about what explains individual attitudes across different reproductive issues at both the country-level and the individual-level. Drawing on the rich literature on abortion attitudes as a starting point, religious and party explanations are explored, in addition to other relevant control variables. Cross-national survey data from the European Values Study (EVS) in multilevel models is utilized to examine attitudes towards two different reproductive issues: ART and abortion. On the country-level, the paper finds that Engeli et al.’s (2012) “two worlds” typology, which indicates the presence of a religious-secular divide in the party system, accounts for variation in abortion attitudes. However, the “two worlds” typology does not explain variation in ART attitudes. Turning to the individual-level, this paper finds that abortion attitudes are clearly linked to religiosity and party affiliation. This reflects how religiosity and moral traditionalism are often tied closely together. However, these explanatory variables are unable to account for variation in ART attitudes to the same degree as for abortion attitudes. Therefore, to more fully comprehend variation in ART attitudes, other explanatory factors than only those linked to abortion attitudes must be explored. Lastly, the explanatory power of religiosity and party affiliation for both abortion and ART attitudes varies across the different European countries. Hence, this paper argues that it is necessary to disaggregate reproductive rights to accurately pinpoint the drivers of public opinion on these issues. Variation in abortion attitudes reflect the expectations for morality issues outlined in the morality politics literature. On the other hand, ART attitudes appear to be less driven by religious values and social conservatism. Considering how reproductive issues differ conceptually and practically is particularly important, as the political consequences and normative implications vary between abortion and ART.