Decoupling the Values Agenda: Millennials, Religion, and Shifting Attitudes toward Abortion and Same-sex Marriage

On June 9, the religion, policy and politics project at Brookings co-hosted an event with the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) to release PRRI’s “Millennials, Religion, and Abortion Survey.” One of the largest public surveys on abortion and religion ever conducted, the analysis delved into the moral complexity of views on abortion and also explored generational, religious, and ethnic differences to an extent not typically possible with smaller polls. Brookings Senior Fellow E.J. Dionne, Jr. moderated the discussion. Robert P. Jones, CEO of PRRI and principal researcher on the survey, presented key findings. Karlyn Bowman, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and Dr. Melissa Deckman, Chair and Associate Professor of Political Science and Louis L. Goldstein Associate Professor of Public Affairs at Washington College, offered analysis of the survey results and discussed their implications.

After the program, panelists took audience questions.