Abortion and Fundamentalism, 1973
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It is my contention that most evangelicals and fundamentalists (in America) did not have a firm conviction about abortion when the Roe vs. Wade ruling was first made. Issues like the creationist view of the soul vs. the traducian view were mere academics until then.
Is my memory wrong? I was debating this issue with some pastor friends and one man insisted that the fundamental world was firmly against abortion in 1973. I suggested that momentum built and by 1976, there was a consensus that abortion was wrong.
Any one else remember it this way — or another way? Were there many pro-life (anti-abortion) resolutions before 1973?
Is my memory wrong? I was debating this issue with some pastor friends and one man insisted that the fundamental world was firmly against abortion in 1973. I suggested that momentum built and by 1976, there was a consensus that abortion was wrong.
Any one else remember it this way — or another way? Were there many pro-life (anti-abortion) resolutions before 1973?
I had only been a Christian for 3 1/2 years back then, but my recollection is that Christians were appalled by the ruling.
I don’t recollect it was an election issue in the [URL=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_1976] 1976 United States presidential election[/URL]
Anti-abortion (pro-life) was front and center in the 1980 election due to the [URL=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_Majority#1980http://en.wikipedia.org…] Moral Majority[/URL]
Compare also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roe_v._Wade
Sargent Shriver was the last Democrat on the Presidential ticket to oppose abortion (although in the view of some, half-heartedly)
I don’t recollect it was an election issue in the [URL=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_1976] 1976 United States presidential election[/URL]
Anti-abortion (pro-life) was front and center in the 1980 election due to the [URL=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_Majority#1980http://en.wikipedia.org…] Moral Majority[/URL]
Compare also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roe_v._Wade
The Roe decision was opposed by Presidents Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, and George W. Bush. President George H.W. Bush also opposed Roe, though he had supported abortion rights earlier in his career. In addition, as governor of California, Ronald Reagan had signed legislation allowing abortion in certain situations.http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2004/05/23/separation_a…
Jimmy Carter supported legal abortion from an early point in his political career, in order to prevent birth defects and in other extreme cases; he encouraged the outcome in Roe and generally supported abortion rights
Sargent Shriver was the last Democrat on the Presidential ticket to oppose abortion (although in the view of some, half-heartedly)
During the 1972 campaign, some of Shriver’s aides — and his own wife — encouraged him to take a tougher stance against abortion. But Shriver dutifully toed the Democratic rhetorical line, arguing that the state should not legislate personal morality. To those who would question the depth of his support of the Democratic position, Shriver would respond, “I do not waver in my belief that abortion is wrong. But nor do I waver in my belief in the separation of church and state, and in the plurality of our society, and will not impose my own moral claims over the will of the democratic majority.”
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