Document Information
Changes in American Opinion about Family Planning
A 1998 public opinion survey conducted in the United States indicated high levels of support for many family planning policies, including US health insurance coverage of family planning services and US sponsorship of family planning programs in developing countries. To gauge changes in opinion on these issues since then, some of the 1998 questions were asked in an omnibus 2003 survey. The results indicate continuing high support for requiring US health insurers to cover family planning services (87 percent in 1998 and 84 percent in 2003), but some loss of support (from 80 to 69 percent) for US sponsorship of family planning programs in developing countries. Opinion remains divided on the policy of prohibiting nongovernmental organizations from receiving federal funding for performing or actively promoting abortion services. The authors explore several possible explanations for these findings, including the role changing presidential policy may have had in shaping opinion regarding family planning aid for developing countries.
Free, downloadable PDF file(s) are available below.
RAND makes an electronic version of this document available for free as a public service.
Use Adobe Acrobat Reader version 7.0 or higher for the best experience.
Originally published in: Studies in Family Planning, v. 35, no. 3, September 2004, pp. 197-206.
This product is part of the RAND Corporation reprint series. RAND reprints present previously published journal articles, book chapters, and reports with the permission of the publisher. RAND reprints have been formally reviewed in accordance with the publisher's editorial policy, and are compliant with RAND's rigorous quality assurance standards for quality and objectivity.
Permission is given to duplicate this electronic document for personal use only, as long as it is unaltered and complete. Copies may not be duplicated for commercial purposes. Unauthorized posting of RAND PDFs to a non-RAND Web site is prohibited. RAND PDFs are protected under copyright law. For information on reprint and linking permissions, please visit the RAND Permissions page.
The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit research organization providing objective analysis and effective solutions that address the challenges facing the public and private sectors around the world. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.
* RAND research is conducted across divisions, centers, and projects; these organizational components are represented in the "Related RAND Divisions" section above.


Top