The United States Senate votes to uphold Roe versus Wade

An analysis is reported of the voting of U.S. Senators in their rejection in 1983 of the proposed Hatch/Eagleton Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. That Amendment, if passed and ratified, would have reversed the 1973 Supreme Court Decision in Roe versus Wade which legalized abortion throughout the United States; the Senate, in effect, thus voted to uphold Roe versus Wade. Analyses are reported on public opinion and public policy, regional differences, characteristics of the states and personal characteristics of the Senators, including some variables of more political relevance and others of more relevance to social scientists. A regression analysis summarizes the results by indicating that, other things being equal, pro-choice votes were likely to be cast by nonCatholic Democratic Senators who were from New England, the Pacific, or Middle Atlantic region, who were from states with a relatively high income, and who had voted against a proposed constitutional amendment allowing prayer in public schools.The author wishes to thank John Murphy, Patricia Shanks, Diane Chappell, and Nancy Allen for their assistance.