Public support for pro-choice abortion policies in the nation and states: changes and stability after the Roe and Doe decisions

In 1973 the United States Supreme Court ruled that abortion could be had practically on request during the first 3 months of pregnancy. This article discusses whether the decision led to more public support for that position, and where in the U.S. the increase in support has been most drastic. The most recent public opinion polls indicate about 60% public support legalized abortion, while it was only 45% before 1973. Support has also increased even if pregnancy is not judged to be detrimental to the mother's health, or if it is not the result of rape and/or incest, but even if it is simply requested for economic or purely personal reasons. People under 30, with college education, men and Protestants, seem to be the staunchest supporters of abortion on demand. There has also been an increase in the number of Catholics supporting abortion. Support for abortion increased in most states between 1969-1973, particularly in the West and in the Northwest. The fight to deny federal funds for abortion is still raging in Congress; some studies indicate that the religion of the legislators is the most powerful predictor of voting on abortion, and that the decision is a very personal one, and not easily altered by the lobbying of groups on either side.     

C6-polymorphism of the sixth component of complement: application to paternity cases (author's transl)]

The results of a study of the polymorphism of the sixth component of human complement by means of isoelectric focusing in polyacrylamide gels with subsequent C-dependent lysis in an agarose overlay containing C6 deficient rabbit serum are reported. The allele frequencies obtained (C6A = 0.613, C6B = 0.379, C6R = 0.008) are in good agreement with those previously published. The mode of inheritance in 47 families with 173 offspring as well as 26 mother-child combinations is in agreement with a formal genetical model: "C6A, C6B, C6A1 and C6B1 at an autosomal locus". The inclusion of this system into a blood group expertise in Germany can be recommended.     

Human body buoyancy: a study of 98 men

The specific gravity and buoyancy of 98 men were calculated at various lung volumes. The data indicated that all subjects would be capable of floating in either freshwater or seawater at total lung capacity. At functional residual capacity, the value approximating the lung volume of a recently dead body, 69% of the subjects would float in seawater, whereas only 7% would float in freshwater. Results of this study indicate that while drowned bodies are more likely to sink than bodies dead of other causes, no conclusion regarding the cause of death can be made on the basis of whether bodies float or sink.     

The Prime Minister's mailbag

Abstract. This study is based on examination of a randomly selected sample of 2,150 letters representing all the mail received by Prime Minister Trudeau between February 1969 and June 1972. The object of the study was to ascertain the characteristics of the letter-writers and the nature of their concerns, arguments and strategies. Through interviews with the staff of the Correspondence Section of the Prime Minister's Office we were also able to discover how the mail is processed. This is described in the last section of our paper. As one might expect, the mail is unrepresentative of the regional, linguistic and class diversity of Canada. Metropolitan areas, rich provinces and English-speakers are over-represented, as are people who have access to typewriters. There is, however, a sizable group of letters from the very poor who write the Prime Minister to complain of their victimization by government bureaucracy or by life in general. These letters are personal and apolitical and approach the Prime Minister in a deferential manner. They appear to us to be carefully and sympathetically answered, and to be probably effective in rectifying small problems. The bulk of the mail is policy-oriented, but probably not effective in influencing policy. Public attention to policy, as expressed in the mail, is extremely transitory and focuses particularly on topics with strong emotional content or on those affecting economic welfare. The mail seems only weakly related to the government's own policy priorities. Sommaire. Cette étude est fondée sur un échantillon de 2,150 lettres tirées du courrier par le premier ministre Trudeau entire février 1969 et juin 1972. Nous avons voulu identifier les catégories de personnes qui s'adressaient au premier ministre, et déterminer le but de leur correspondence et la nature de leur argumentation etc. Nous avons interviewé le personnel de la section de la correspondance du cabinet du premier ministre pour connaître la procédure de réponse à ce courrier. Nous avons constaté que le courrier n'est pas représentatif de la diversité régionale, culturelle et sociale du pays. Les plus fortunés, les habitants des grandes villes, et les habitants des provinces sont surreprésentés. II y a, cependant, une proportion assez élevée de lettres venant d'économiquement faibles qui se plaignent au premier ministre de leur traitement par la bureaucratic ou de la vie en générate. Leurs problèmes sont formulés en termes personnels, et ces personnes s'adressent au premier ministre respectueusement. Les réponses à ces lettres nous paraissent sympathiques et souvent efficacies quant au redressement des plaintes. Le gros du courrier concerne l'orientation de la politique mais son influence est sans doute limitée. L'attention du public à l'égard de la politique gouvernementale est conditionnée par les évènements, en particulier les évènements à contenu émotif ou ceux qui touchent de près le bien-être des correspondants. Ce courrier ne se réfère que très indirectement aux priorités politiques du gouveniement.