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This is an overly simplistic model of the politics. Roughly a third of Republicans are pro-choice. Roughly a third of Democrats are pro-life. And half of the country identifies with neither political party. Some parts of the country are socially conservative and politically libertarian, with a cultural norm of not legislating personal beliefs. These groups are not uniformly distributed throughout the country.

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There are further nuances. While a majority favors legal abortions in early stages, there is a very substantial group (across the political spectrum) that disapproves of late stage abortions (except in unusual situations, such as to save the mother's life).

The issue has been polarized into two groups:

1) a single cell is a human being 2) a nine month fetus isn't a human being until the last foot has emerged from the birth canal.

Many, perhaps most, think both of these positions are utterly ridiculous.

Right. But the democrats that are pro-life will still vote democrat, because they are democrats. The independents are typically pro-choice precisely because they do not like government over-reach...and then it's those 1/3 of republicans that are going to turn the tide when they privately vote counter to their public identity.

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