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Re: abortion + politics

Posted by caraher on September 5, 2008, at 21:56:21

In reply to Re: Open Mic Night at the RNC, posted by Sigismund on September 4, 2008, at 22:42:12

"This wouldn't be said in an election here. The parties do not have a position on abortion. The members of the parties have strong opinions (of course) and are allowed to speak freely in the parliament followed by a conscience vote, thus avoiding a partisan clash."

I firmly believe that if only there were an understanding like this in American politics the past 28 years would have played out very differently.

From 1973 to around 1980 there was a huge transformation in American politics during which support for abortion rights became an absolute test for every Democratic candidate, while at the same time religious opposition to abortion became politicized. "Pro-choice" Dems were largely banished from the party, and Republicans donned the "pro-life" mantle. One enormous demographic that emerged was the so-called "Reagan Democrats," many of them blue-collar Catholics told by their church leaders that abortion was the great national sin. I've known far too many conscientious Christians who would never have considered supporting 90% of the elements of the Republican platform who nevertheless feel bound to support the likes of Bush over this single issue.

The fact is, the whole point here is to *have* the partisan clash. It helped create a political coalition in which many members vote for policies manifestly not in their economic best interest in order to have their voice heard on the "culture war" issues.

This is why I don't think there's any real chance abortion will ever be restricted the way it was prior to Roe versus Wade in the US. It's far too valuable politically for the Republicans to keep it as a "wedge" issue. If they were serious about it they would have accomplished a lot more toward banning abortion than simply appointing a couple of sympathetic justices to the Supreme Court and waiting around for someone to retire.


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poster:caraher thread:850202
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/poli/20080728/msgs/850569.html