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...
Roe v. Wade
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...
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...
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...
Abortion, the Supreme Court, and the uses of history
Below is a taste of Carlos Lozado’s piece at The Washington Post. It is one of the better things I have read on Dobbs. …One of the sharpest divides in the Supreme Court’s abortion rulings is over history — what...
Does the Christian Right still need Trump?
Bonnie Kristian, a columnist at Christianity Today and a fellow at Defense Priorities, does not think so. Here is a taste of her piece today at The New York Times: For many backers of former President Donald Trump, Friday’s Supreme...
We lifted the Current paywall for this week’s forum “The End of Roe”
Good morning. I hope you will spend some time this week checking out Current‘s four day series on the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Today, Monday, we have Felicia Song, Randall Balmer, David Tucker, Una Cadegan, and John Haas. And...
The National Association of Evangelicals responds to the overturning of Roe
Here is the press release: The National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) welcomes today’s Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson that overturns federal abortion rights based on Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. The ruling represents the most significant change in abortion jurisprudence...
Current writers will address the end of Roe
Next week at Current we will be running a multi-day forum on the overturning of Roe v. Wade. We have lined-up an impressive array of writers who will offer short commentaries on the decision from multiple perspectives. I am confident...
What overturning Roe v. Wade will NOT mean for the future of abortion in the United States
Readers of Current know the work of Daniel K. Williams. He teaches American history at the University of West Georgia and is the author of several books on evangelicals and politics, including Defenders of the Unborn: The Pro-Life Movement before...
On abortion, the Trump court evangelicals need the Supreme Court. On gun violence, all they have are “thoughts and prayers.”
If you read my Current piece on Thursday or Dan Williams’s piece today and want another example of the inherent contradiction in the Christian pro-life movement, just read the recent e-mail Trump court evangelical Paula White-Cain’s “National Faith Advisory Board‘...
The consequences of overturning Roe v. Wade
Michael Walther, a pro-life Catholic, can live with the consequences. But at least he is aware of them. Here is a taste of his piece at The New York Times: American society as we know it today came into being...
Pennsylvania senator Bob Casey will vote to codify Roe v. Wade into law
Here is Amy Gang and Seung Min Kim at The Washington Post: Sen. Robert P. Casey Jr. said Tuesday that he would support legislation that would codify Roe v. Wade into law, a dramatic shift for one of the few remaining Democrats...
Pro-lifers attack pro-life Christian pregnancy centers
This is what happens when you mix anti-intellectual populism and the anti-abortion movement. Emily Belz reports at Christianity Today. Her editors have chosen a polite and civil title for her piece: “The Supreme Court Leak Was an Unplanned Complication for...
Smart people talking about abortion
First, let me call your attention to Current contributing editor Daniel K. Williams‘s piece today at The Atlantic: “This Really is a Different Pro-Life Movement.” A taste: The enthusiastic embrace of the movement by white evangelicals in the Bible Belt...
Is abortion “deeply rooted” in American history?
In his leaked decision overturning Roe v. Wade, Samuel Alito wrote, “The inescapable conclusion is that a right to abortion is not deeply rooted into the Nation’s history and tradition.” Is this true? It is hard to define what “deeply...
Few Americans are absolutists on abortion
From Pew Research: Abortion should be legal in most cases: 36% Abortion should illegal in most cases: 27% Abortion should be legal in all cases, no exceptions: 19% Abortion should be illegal in all cases, no exceptions: 8% Abortion should...
If Roe is overturned, will abortions really come to an end in the United States?
When I was younger I spent some time in Ocean City, New Jersey. Ocean City is located on a barrier island off the Jersey shore. It is also a dry town. In other words, alcohol is not sold within the...
Evangelical roundup for May 5, 2022: Roe v. Wade edition
What is happening in Evangelical land? They are responding to the leaked draft of Samuel Alito’s Roe v. Wade majority decision. Read the press release from the National Association of Evangelicals. Christianity Today reports here. And a bunch of other...