Last week the House of Representatives passed H.Con Res. 3 “expressing the sense of Congress condemning the recent attacks on pro-life facilities, groups, and churches. Here is some of the text: Whereas since the May 2, 2022, leak of the...
abortion
Some quick thoughts on abortion and Christian nationalism in the 2022 midterm elections
I talked to the Associated Press this week. A taste: KENTUCKY, USA — In the midterm elections, evangelical Christians across the nation reconfirmed their allegiance to conservative candidates and causes, while Catholic voters once again showed how closely divided they are...
Zakaria: The GOP is “not filled with authoritarians.” It’s “filled with cowards”
Fareed Zakaria believes the midterms were about two things: abortion and Trump. Here is a taste of his column at The Washington Post: So, what was the vote about (or, rather, against)? It’s difficult to be sure, because exit polls...
A museum exhibit on Roe v. Wade
It’s at Harvard Schlesinger Library. Here is Jennifer Schuessler at The New York Times: In the corner of a ground-floor gallery at Harvard’s Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America sits a small plexiglass case, holding two cowboy...
The Christian Right rallies around Herschel Walker
Here is Brian Kaylor at Word & Way: On the morning after an explosive news report that U.S. Senate hopeful Herschel Walker paid for a girlfriend’s abortion in 2009, the Georgia Republican attended a closed prayer event at First Baptist Church in...
Old state anti-abortion laws are becoming relevant again
Current contributing editor Daniel K. Williams explains in a recent piece at The Atlantic: Abortion opponents seem not to have expected some of the more draconian consequences of the Dobbs decision—that anti-abortion laws would prevent pregnant women who were not seeking abortions...
Episode 47: What Are “Moral Issues?”
And does the Christian Right have a sole claim on them? Episode 47: “What Are ‘Moral Issues?’” dropped today. Subscribers to Current at the Longshore level and above have access to new episodes of this narrative history podcast. Here is a teaser: If you...
What can the United States learn from Italy’s abortion policy?
Here is Massimo Faggioli at Commonweal: Legge 194 (or “The 194,” as Italians call it), which the Italian Parliament passed in 1978, allows women to receive abortions through the first ninety days of pregnancy, after getting counseling in a public...
How Lindsey Graham’s abortion bill is sure to backfire on the GOP
Wait, I thought conservatives wanted the people in the states to decide abortion law. Eugene Daniels and Ryan Lizza of Politico explain: After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June, most Republicans stuck to a simple message: The decision merely...
GOP success in November rests on the votes of women
Republican women voters are skeptical about the direction their party is moving and there is a good chance they will voice their skepticism in the November 2022 Senate races. Here is Natalie Allison at Politico: Republicans this election cycle thought...
Noonan: Pro-lifers failed to prepare for a post-Roe world
The dog caught the bus. Now what? The leaders of the prolife movement–especially the conservative evangelical wing of the movement–spent so much time, energy, and money chasing the Roe v. Wade bus that it failed to think deeply about what...
Abortion politics is not going away
Some thought that the Supreme Court abortion decision in Dobbs v. Jackson might shift the political focus this election season to a struggling economy. But this week things got more complicated. Today’s job report suggests that the economy is not...
Is today’s anti-abortion movement analogous to the 19th-century push for the prohibition of alcohol?
Some of you may remember Chris Shannon’s recent Current feature, “Analogies of Abortion.” The piece criticized a New York Times op-ed by Georgetown University historian Michael Kazin. (Some of you will recall Kazin’s Current review of Anthea Butler’s White Evangelical...
Send it back to the states: Kansas rejects an amendment to restrict abortion rights
Will the overturning of Roe v. Wade end abortion in America? No. Decisions concerning abortion rights will now be settled in the individual states. Yesterday Kansas decided to support abortion rights. Here is The Washington Post: In a major victory...
Sam Alito get on his high horse in Rome
I wish Sam Alito would just keep his mouth shut and do his job. Every time he speaks publicly he proves that the Supreme Court is just another political institution. This, it seems, was what John Roberts was worried about...
More on Jim Harbaugh’s pro-life views
Last week we did a post on the University of Michigan football coach’s speech at a pro-life event sponsored by Michigan Catholics. In the days since that speech, Harbaugh has elaborated on his pro-life views. Here is ESPN: Michigan football coach...
Florida is becoming an abortion destination state
Florida right-wing governor Ron DeSantis and the conservatives in the state legislature have not yet blocked abortion in the state. According to Manuel Bojorquez’s piece at CBS News, women are flocking to Florida to have the procedure done. Here is...
Jim Harbaugh: Pro-lifer
The University of Michigan football coach spoke at a pro-life event in Michigan this week. Here is Detroit Catholic: Fr. John Riccardo and coach Jim Harbaugh, two well-known names in their respective professions, were the keynote speakers July 17 during...
Michael Kazin compares the backlash to the overturning of Roe with the backlash to prohibition.
The Georgetown University historian of the American Left compares the backlash to Dobbs vs. Jackson with the backlash against prohibition in the 1920s. Here is a taste of his piece at The New York Times: Once the dry movement got...
Episode 42: “The Culture of Life”
Abortion and the final days of the 2004 election Episode 42: “The Culture of Life” dropped today. Subscribers to Current at the Longshore level and above have access to new episodes of this narrative history podcast. Here is a teaser: If you like what...