With left-leaning faith groups unable to agree on abortion issues, the religious right—with the help of anti-choice Democrats—were able to convince Democratic strategists that they spoke for people of faith. Will the inability to take a strong stance for women’s rights split religious coalitions?
Abortion is not a liberal, secular invention; there are examples in Jewish, Muslim, and even Christian theologies—and in Buddhist and Hindu traditions—of instances in which abortion is justified.
As so many pundits ask whether it was the 11th-hour activism of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops that enabled the anti-choice provision to be inserted into the health care bill, our analyst explores a different possibility: Democratic strategy.