Let's Go to the Party: Support for Abortion Legislation in Congress.

This research examines the factors that shape support for abortion legislation in Congress. While most of the extant research on women in politics focuses on the impact of sex as a variable, this paper examines the growing importance of party identification on political behavior. Building upon previous research that suggests that Democratic men may be more likely than Republican women to support women's issues, this research seeks to examine the effect of party on the political behavior of members of Congress. By using interest group ratings of congressional roll call votes, this paper addresses whether marked differences exists between the support of: 1) women and men, and 2) Democrats and Republicans, regarding an issue of particular importance to women. Findings suggest that the effect of party is increasing over time in regards to support of abortion legislation, such that Democratic men are as supportive of these bills as are their female colleagues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]