Misplaced Pages

United States anti-abortion movement

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 207.237.243.185 (talk) at 04:40, 17 February 2011 (The pro-life movement and violence against abortion providers: grammar). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Revision as of 04:40, 17 February 2011 by 207.237.243.185 (talk) (The pro-life movement and violence against abortion providers: grammar)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) For other uses, see United States anti-abortion movement (disambiguation).
Pro-life protesters at Parliament Square, London on 20 May 2008.

Pro-life describes the political and ethical opposition to elective abortion, and support for its legal prohibition or restriction. Those involved in the pro-life movement generally maintain that human fetuses and, in most cases, embryos are persons, and therefore have a right to life. On the issue of abortion, pro-life campaigners are opposed by pro-choice campaigners, who generally advocate for women's reproductive rights. The pro-life movement may also include opposition to euthanasia, capital punishment, and support for a living wage. In addition, the pro-life movement is also seen as one of the core traditional family values, which include opposition to pornography and opposition to same-sex marriage, among other ideas.

Overview

See also: Abortion debate, Ethical aspects of abortion, and Emergency contraception

Pro-life individuals generally believe that human life should be valued either from fertilization or implantation until natural death. The contemporary pro-life movement is typically, but not exclusively, influenced by Conservative Christian values, especially in the United States, and has influenced certain strains of bioethical utilitarianism. From that viewpoint, any action which destroys an embryo or fetus kills a person. Any deliberate destruction of human life is considered ethically or morally wrong and is not considered to be mitigated by any benefits to others, as such benefits are coming at the expense of the life of a person. In some cases, this belief extends to opposing abortion of fetuses that would almost certainly expire within a short time after birth, such as anencephalic fetuses.

Some pro-life advocates oppose certain forms of birth control, particularly hormonal contraception such as Emergency contraception (ECPs), and copper IUDs which prevent the implantation of an embryo. Because they believe that the term "pregnancy" should be defined so as to begin at fertilization, they refer to these contraceptives as abortifacients. The Catholic Church endorses this view, but the possibility that hormonal contraception has post-fertilization effects is disputed within the scientific community.

Attachment to a pro-life position is often but not exclusively connected to religious beliefs about the sanctity of life (see also Culture of Life). Exclusively secular-humanist positions against abortion tend to be a minority viewpoint among pro-life advocates. Many holding the pro-life position also tend toward a complementarian view of gender roles, though there is also a self-described feminist element inside the movement.

Religion and pro-life movements

See also: Religion and abortion, Sanctity of life, and Culture of life

The variety in opinion on the issue of abortion is reflected in the diverse views of religious groups. For example, the Roman Catholic Church condemns every procured abortion as morally evil, while traditional Jewish teachings allow abortion as a means of safeguarding the life and well-being of the pregnant woman.

Christianity

See also: Christianity and abortion and History of early Christian thought on abortion
Two people holding a pro-life sign at a meeting with Pope Benedict XVI at the Estádio do Pacaembu in São Paulo, Brazil in 2007. Translation: "No to abortion".
File:Monument to the Unborn.jpg
A monument to the unborn in Sainte Geneviève, Missouri.

Much of the pro-life movement in the United States and around the world finds support in the Roman Catholic Church, Christian right, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, the Church of England, the Anglican Church in North America, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS). However, the pro-life teachings of these denominations vary considerably. The Eastern Orthodox Church and Roman Catholic Church consider abortion to be immoral in all cases, but permit acts which indirectly result in the death of the fetus in the case where the mother's life is threatened. In Pope John Paul II's Letter to Families he simply stated the Roman Catholic Church's view on abortion and euthanasia: "Laws which legitimize the direct killing of innocent human beings through abortion or euthanasia are in complete opposition to the inviolable right to life proper to every individual; they thus deny the equality of everyone before the law."

The National Association of Evangelicals and the LDS Church oppose abortion on demand; however, the NAE considers abortion allowable in cases with clear evidence of severe fetal deformity, dire threat to the life/physical health of the pregnant woman, or when a pregnancy results from rape or incest. The Taskforce of United Methodists on Abortion and Sexuality (TUMAS) was formed in 1987 to further the pro-life ministry in The United Methodist Church. The Southern Baptist Convention believes that abortion is allowable only in cases where there is a direct threat to the life of the woman. Other mainstream Protestant denominations in the United States, such as the Episcopal Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), and the United Church of Christ, are pro-choice.

Islam

See also: Islam and abortion

There is very little discussion about the abortion debate in Islamic countries. In many Muslim countries, women must gain consent (medical, religious, state or spousal) for an abortion. Although there are different opinions among Muslim scholars on the topic of Islam and abortion, most agree that the termination of a pregnancy after four months—the point at which, in Islam, a fetus is thought to become a living soul—is not permissible. Many Islamic thinkers contend that in cases prior to four months of gestation, abortion should be permissible only in instances in which a mother's life is in danger or in cases of rape.

Hinduism

See also: Hinduism and abortion, Abortion in India, and Sex-selective abortion and female infanticide

Although traditional Hindu texts and teachings have opposed elective abortions, a vocal pro-life movement is limited in India, the nation with the largest Hindu population. Most abortions in India are done for sex selection, with boys being favored. As a result, activists who argue against abortion in India are typically women's rights activists. Recently, these pro-life activists took Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft to court, suing to remove web ads that sell products that enable parents to determine the sex of a fetus. Some Hindu institutions oppose abortion, and teach that abortion prevents a soul in its karmic progress toward God. Other Hindu theologians believe personhood begins at 3 months and develops through to 5 months of gestation, possibly implying permitting abortion in extenuating circumstances up to the third month and considering any abortion past the third month to be destruction of the soul's current incarnate body.

Judaism

See also: Judaism and abortion

In Judaism, views on abortion draw primarily upon the legal and ethical teachings of the Hebrew Bible, the Torah, the case-by-case decisions of responsa, and other rabbinic literature. In the modern period, moreover, Jewish thinking on abortion has responded both to liberal understandings of personal autonomy as well as Christian opposition to abortion. Polls of Jews in America report that 88% of American Jews are pro-choice. Prominent Jewish pro-life activist Michael Medved has said, "Jewish law for millennia has been extremely clear, that abortion is only permitted when the life of the mother is directly threatened... To link Jewish tradition to the pro-choice position is 'ludicrous and ignorant'." In Israel, the major pro-life organization is Efrat, which primarily raises funds to relieve the "financial and social pressures" on pregnant women so that they will not terminate their pregnancies.

History and current activity

In the United States

Major organizations in the United States that support the pro-life movement include Focus on the Family, Concerned Women for America, Family Research Institute, National Right to Life Committee, American Family Association, and Live Action.

Role of Roman Catholics in the creation of the pro-life movement

Before the Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion in the United States, the pro-life movement in the United States consisted of elite lawyers, politicians, and doctors, almost all of whom were Catholic. The only coordinated opposition to abortion during the early 1970s came from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Family Life Bureau, also a Catholic organization. Mobilization of a wide-scale pro-life movement among Catholics began quickly after the Roe v. Wade decision with the creation of the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC). The NRLC also organized non-Catholics, eventually becoming the largest pro-life organization in the United States.

Role of Evangelicals

This section may be unbalanced toward certain viewpoints. Please improve the article by adding information on neglected viewpoints, or discuss the issue on the talk page. (December 2010)

Randall Herbert Balmer, Ph.D., argues in his book, Thy Kingdom Come, that despite the popular belief that anti-abortion sentiments galvanized the fundamentalist evangelical movement, what actually galvanized the movement was evangelical opposition to the American Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The IRS stripped evangelical universities, like Bob Jones University, from their tax-exempt status for remaining racially segregated.

Before 1980, the Southern Baptist Convention officially advocated for loosening of abortion restrictions. During the 1971 and 1974 Southern Baptist Conventions, Southern Baptists were called upon "to work for legislation that will allow the possibility of abortion under such conditions as rape, incest, clear evidence of severe fetal deformity, and carefully ascertained evidence of the likelihood of damage to the emotional, mental, and physical health of the mother." W. Barry Garrett wrote in the Baptist Press, "Religious liberty, human equality and justice are advanced by the Supreme Court Decision."

By 1980, conservative Protestant leaders became vocal in their opposition to legalized abortion, and by the early 1990s Pat Robertson's Christian Coalition of America became a significant pro-life organization. In 2005, Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, said that making abortion illegal is more important than any other issue.

In Europe

Pro-life demonstration Each Life Matters in Madrid, Spain, on 17 October 2009.

Contrary to the United States, in Europe abortion has been legalized through parliamentary acts. In Western Europe this has had the effect at once of both more closely regulating the use of abortion, and at the same time mediating and reducing the impact pro-life campaigns have had on the law.

In Israel

In Israel, the major pro-life organization is Efrat. Efrat activists primarily raise funds to relieve the "financial and social pressures" on pregnant women so that they will not terminate their pregnancies. Efrat is not known to do any other kind of activism.

"Consistent Life Ethic"

A major stated goal within the pro-life movement is to "restore legal protection to innocent human life." This protection would include fetuses and embryos, persons who cannot communicate their wishes due to physical or mental incapacitation, and those who are too weak to resist being euthanized.

Some pro-life advocates, such as those subscribing to the philosophy of a Consistent Life Ethic (formerly known as the Seamless Garment), oppose virtually all acts that end human life. They would argue that abortion, euthanasia, capital punishment, and unjust war are all wrong. Prominent organizations advocating a Consistent Life Ethic include Democrats For Life of America (which includes dozens of Congressmen), Sojourners Magazine, and Priests for Life.

Others argue that the death penalty can be a fair punishment for murder, justifiably inflicted by lawful authority, whereas abortion is an attack on an innocent. The increasing attention paid to this controversial position may result from the large Roman Catholic membership of the pro-life movement, striving to adhere to Catholic Church teachings on the death penalty.

The debate

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
Find sources: "United States anti-abortion movement" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (September 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
The neutrality of this section is disputed. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until conditions to do so are met. (November 2010) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
A pro-life memorial in Bytom, Poland. Partial translation: "Dedicated in memory of unborn children – victims of abortion".
Main article: Abortion debate

In some countries, the abortion issue remains one of the broader and more controversial societal issues. A broad spectrum of positions exists on this issue, from those who advocate abortion-on-demand at any point during a pregnancy until birth on the one end, to those who oppose every form of abortion on the other. Between these two there is a considerable range of positions. Some oppose abortion, but are content to work at reducing the number of abortions through prevention of unwanted pregnancies, a task they accomplish through encouraging abstinence, targeted sex education and/or increased availability of contraception. Current legislation in United States Congress, the Pregnant Women Support Act, seeks to reduce the abortion rate in the U.S. without making any procedure illegal and without overturning Roe v. Wade. There are many who support legal abortion within the first trimesters but oppose late-term abortions. Those who oppose late-term abortions usually take the view that once a fetus has reached the point where it could live independently from the woman, the balance of rights swings in favour of the fetus. Some oppose most abortions but make exception for cases where the woman's life is in serious risk. In this category, some likewise make an exception for severe fetal deformities. Others make exceptions when the pregnancy was not caused by consensual sexual activity or may violate social taboos, as in cases of rape and incest. Some allow for all these exceptions, but stop short of abortion-on-demand.

Another issue is that of mandatory notification and consent. Some believe that a pregnant minor should not be allowed to abort her pregnancy without notifying her parent or guardian because of the risks and possible medical complications. Likewise, some believe that notifying the woman's husband should be required because of parental rights. In a 2003 Gallup poll in the United States, 72% of respondents were in favour of spousal notification, with 26% opposed; of those polled. In many states, such restrictions are mandated by law, though often with the right of judicial oversight. Others believe that the child's biological father must be notified.

Generally speaking, the pro-life position regards abortion as a form of infanticide, and thus seeks legal restrictions on abortions. Pro-life advocates typically argue that if a pregnant woman is unable or unwilling to raise the child, there is the option of placing the child up for adoption.

One analysis suggests that, since pro-life families may be expected to have fewer abortions (and more children) than their pro-choice counterparts and they may pass their beliefs on to their children, this will change the voter demographic of future generations. In this way, legal abortion-on-demand may also serve to increase the dominance of the pro-life position in society. This hypothesis has been called the "Roe effect," and may explain the trend towards more widespread support of the pro-life movement.

The debate is often presented as between those who believe fetuses are persons and should therefore have rights, vs. those who believe fetuses are not persons but "future persons" or "potential persons". However, not all pro-choice advocates claim that fetuses are non-persons; there are also those who say that even if fetuses are persons, their position inside the body of another person entitles that other person to kill them anyway. This is sometimes called the "Body-Ownership Argument" or the "Abortion-As-Justifiable-Homicide Argument". It need not be based only on the fetus' location; it can also be justified by citing the fact that the fetus is taking nutrients from the mother's bloodstream, and injecting metabolic end-products into her bloodstream, and preparing to subject her to a major medical/surgical trauma (childbirth), all of which she is entitled to prevent, even by means of deadly force.

Some pro-choice advocates also point out that, while they too would prefer to see abortion not happen, when abortion is illegal, women who want abortions seek unsafe abortions, placing their own lives at risk.

Legal and political aspects

Democrats for Life of America demonstrates at the 2006 March for Life.

The United States Republican Party platform advocates a pro-life position, though there are some pro-choice Republicans. The Republican group The Wish List supports pro-choice Republican women just as EMILY's List supports pro-choice Democratic women. The Susan B. Anthony List (SBA List) is dedicated to "increasing the percentage of pro-life women in Congress and high public office," and seeks to eliminate abortion in the U.S.Cite error: The <ref> tag has too many names (see the help page). The Democrats for Life of America are a group of pro-life Democrats on the political left who advocate for a pro-life plank in the Democratic Party's platform and for pro-life Democratic candidates. Former vice-presidential candidate Sargent Shriver, the late Robert Casey, a former two-term governor of Pennsylvania, and former Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich), a vocal pro-life proponent and leader of the Democratic pro-life caucus in the United States House of Representatives, have been among the most well-known pro-life Democrats. However, following his vote in favor of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Marjorie Dannenfelser of the SBA List reported that her organization was revoking a pro-life award it had been planning to give to Stupak, and pro-life organizations accused Stupak of having betrayed the pro-life movement.

Controversies over terminology

Pro-life and pro-choice individuals often use political framing to convey their perspective on the issues and, in some cases, to discredit opposing views. Pro-life advocates tend to use terms such as "unborn baby", "unborn child", or "pre-born child", while some pro-choice advocates insist on scientific terminology (often distinguishing between a zygote, a blastula, an embryo, and a fetus, and objecting to "fetus" as a blanket term). Pro-life individuals may also prefer to refer to the pregnant woman as a "mother", while some pro-choice individuals consider this inappropriate, and some in the medical community may see its usage as insensitive and biased in certain narrowly defined contexts.

Both "pro-choice" and "pro-life" are examples of terms labeled as political framing: they are terms which purposely try to define their philosophies in the best possible light, while by definition attempting to describe their opposition in the worst possible light. "Pro-choice" implies that the alternative viewpoint is "anti-choice", while "pro-life" implies the alternative viewpoint is "pro-death" or "anti-life". Similarly each side's use of the term "rights" ("reproductive rights", "right to life of the unborn") implies a validity in their stance, given that the presumption in language is that rights are inherently a good thing and so implies an invalidity in the viewpoint of their opponents.

The Associated Press encourages journalists to use the terms "abortion rights" and "anti-abortion".

Types of advocacy

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
Find sources: "United States anti-abortion movement" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (May 2007) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Pro-life advocacy involves a variety of activities, from promoting the pro-life position to the public in general, lobbying public officials, or attempting to dissuade individual women to forgo abortions. Some efforts involve distributing literature, providing counseling services, conducting public demonstrations or protests and private or public prayer.

File:Prolife-DC.JPG
Pro-life protesters make a silent demonstration in front of the United States Supreme Court in Washington, D.C.

Demonstrations and protests

  • Mass demonstrations: every year, American pro-life advocates hold a March for Life in Washington, D.C., on 22 January, the anniversary date of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion in the United States. Similar events take place on a smaller scale in other U.S. cities, such as the Walk for Life in San Francisco, California. In Spain, over a million people took part in a demonstration on 17 October 2009 protesting the legalization of abortion. On a lesser scale, the Paris March for Life gathers thousands of French pro-life marchers every year in January.
  • The life chain: The "Life Chain" is a public demonstration technique that involves standing in a row on sidewalks holding signs bearing pro-life messages. Messages include "Abortion Kills Children", "Abortion stops a beating heart" or "Abortion Hurts Women". Participants, as an official policy, do not yell or chant slogans and do not block pedestrians or roadways. Many Right to Life chapters hold Life Chain events yearly and the annual worldwide 40 Days for Life campaigns also use this technique.
  • The rescue: A "rescue operation" involves pro-life activists blocking the entrances to an abortion clinic in order to prevent anyone from entering. The stated goal of this practice is to force the clinic to shut down for the day. Often, the protesters are removed by law enforcement. Some clinics were protested so heavily in this fashion that they closed down permanently. "The rescue" was first attempted by Operation Rescue. Ever since President Bill Clinton signed the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act into law, the rescue has become prohibitively expensive, and has rarely been attempted.
File:Prolifevan.jpg
A pro-life van parked outside of an abortion clinic.
  • The truth display: In conducting a "truth display", protesters publicly display highly-magnified pictures of aborted fetuses. Some pro-life groups believe that publicizing the graphic results of abortion is an effective way of making their case. The Pro-Life Action League has used this form of activism in its Face the Truth displays. Members of one group, Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust, have been jailed numerous times for these types of displays which they set up both legally and illegally on university campuses. "Truth displays" are a controversial tactic, including within the pro-life movement.
  • Picketing: The majority of the facilities that perform abortions in the United States experience some form of protest from pro-life demonstrators every year, of which the most common form is picketing. Besides the clinics themselves, other sites for right-to-life picketing include abortion workers' homes, churches, and second-job workplaces, and abortion workers' children's schools. Most facilities that perform abortions experience picketing at least 20 times a year; in 2007, 11,113 instances of picketing were either reported to, or obtained by, the National Abortion Federation.

Counseling

  • Sidewalk counseling: "Sidewalk counseling" is a form of pro-life advocacy which is conducted outside of abortion clinics. Activists seek to communicate with those entering the building, or with passersby in general, in an effort to persuade them not to have an abortion or to reconsider their position on the morality of abortion. They do so by trying to engage in conversation, displaying signs, distributing literature, or giving directions to a nearby crisis pregnancy center. The "Chicago Method" is an approach to sidewalk counseling that involves giving those about to enter an abortion facility copies of lawsuits filed against the facility or its physicians. The name comes from the fact that it was first used by Pro-Life Action League in Chicago. The intent of the Chicago Method is to turn the woman away from a facility that the protesters deem "unsafe", thus giving her time to reconsider her choice to abort.
  • Crisis pregnancy centers: "Crisis pregnancy centers" are non-profit organizations, mainly in the United States, usually established with the goal of presenting pregnant women with alternatives to abortion. Though many CPCs refrain from engaging in the public debate on abortion, they are nearly always staffed by supporters of the pro-life movement. The total number of CPCs has been estimated at several thousand in the U.S. The Care Net network as well as the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates each claim over a thousand affiliated centers, Heartbeat International 900 and Birthright International several hundred. While originally these centers concentrated on providing direct material support or information on available social help, a growing number have more recently acquired medical and paramedical equipment: an estimated one CPC in four offers free sonograms in the hope of convincing pregnant women not to abort. Critics have claimed that many CPCs engage in deceptive tactics to attract and persuade women contemplating abortion. Some CPCs have been court ordered to stop representing themselves as providing a complete range of health services, including abortion.

Specialty license plates

In the United States, some states issue specialty license plates that have a pro-life theme. Choose Life, an advocacy group founded in 1997, was successful in securing a pro-life automobile tag in Florida. Subsequently, the organization has been actively helping groups in other states pursue "Choose Life" license plates.

The pro-life movement and violence against abortion providers

Main article: Anti-abortion violence

Violent incidents directed against abortion providers range from the murders and attempted murders of physicians and clinic staff to arson and bombings of abortion clinics, to ordinary fisticuffs. G. Davidson Smith of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) defined abortion extremist, animal rights, and environmentalism-related violence as "single issue terrorism". Acts of violence against abortion providers and facilities in North America have largely subsided following a peak in the mid-1990s. The National Clinic Violence Survey, conducted by the pro-choice Feminist Majority Foundation, reported in 2006 that severe violence affected 18.4% of abortion providers and facilities in the preceding year, 2005. This figure is lower than at any time since 1994, which is consistent with statistics from the National Abortion Federation that show violence against abortion clinics or providers has steadily decreased since 2001.

A notable example of anti-abortion violence in the United States is the murder of late-term abortion provider Dr. George Tiller, who was shot point-blank through the eye in the foyer of the church where he was a member. A large number of pro-life leaders and groups condemned the killing. The vast majority of pro-life advocates, as well as mainstream pro-life organizations, reject the use of violence in support of pro-life goals and/or in opposition to abortion on the basis of the belief that both qualify as murder. They rely upon other forms of activism like picketing and vigils, as well as legal and political action. The National Right to Life Committee, the largest pro-life organization in the United States, has stated that it "unequivocally condemns any acts of violence used by individuals regardless of their motivation". The American Life League has issued a "Pro-life Proclamation Against Violence".

Pro-Life campaigners have occasionally suffered violence as well. On 11 September 2009, pro-life activist James Pouillon was shot and killed as he was displaying pictures of aborted fetuses in front of a school in Owosso, Michigan. Harlan James Drake was charged with two murders: Pouillon's murder and the murder of a gravel pit contractor against whom Drake bore a grudge. Drake reportedly "didn't like Pouillon's graphic antiabortion signs". Two days after the murder, president Barack Obama issued a statement saying that "hichever side of a public debate you're on, violence is never the right answer".

Other incidents have included activists being shot at or threatened with a handgun. Pro-life organisations have also criticized an animated video posted on a Planned Parenthood affiliate website in 2005 depicted cartoon violence against pro-life advocates.

References

  1. Ziad W. Munson. "The Making of Pro-life Activists: How Social Movement Mobilization Works". Retrieved 2007-12-31. The pro-life issue to include not only abortion but also opposition to euthanasia, capital punishment, and support for a living wage and other economic positions of the Church.
  2. Ziad W. Munson. "The Scandal of Evangelical Politics". Retrieved 2007-12-31. Christians to a consistently pro-life agenda. Abortion, euthanasia, smoking, starvation in a world of abundance, and capital punishment all destroy persons created.
  3. Ruth Clifford Engs. "Clean Living Movements: American Cycles of Health Reform". Praeger Publishers. Retrieved 2007-12-31. An article, "The Rise of Born Again Politics (1980) in a Newsweek report illustrates the linking of religion and politics that included health-related issues in the Christian Right. The article stated that Jerry Falweli's "agenda for the 1980s–of the Moral Moajority's" born-again politics was "a pro-family, pro-life, pro-morality platform...The Moral Majority–and its evangelical allies–are against abortion, ERA, gay rights, sex education, drugs, pornography." Alex Foege (1996, 231), a contemporary communication specialist, suggests that "family values" actually means "born again" Chrsitian values.
  4. "Women Without Husbands: Exploration of the Margins of Marriage (Women in Society)". Macmillan Publishers. Retrieved 2007-12-31. Berger and Berger (1983) have described 'the war over the family' where the pro-family and pro-life movement ... Its members oppose abortion, pornography, homosexuality and government policies which undermine traditional family values.
  5. Allan J. Lichtman. "White Protestant Nation: The Rise of the American Conservative Movement". Grove Press. Retrieved 2007-12-31. The new right put a positive spin on anti-pluralist morality. They weren't just against sinners and feminists; they were the "pro-family" and "pro-life" champions of wholesome "family values." Still, defense of the family meant battling the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), abortion, pornography, gay rights, and gun control.
  6. Prof. Peter Goodwin Heltzel. "Jesus and Justice: Evangelicals, Race, and American Politics". Yale University Press. Retrieved 2007-12-31. Founded at the same time that the evangelical pro-life movement was gathering stream, Focus was politicized from its inception. In the 1980s Dobson became more involved in politics, focusing on a cluster of issues related to family matters, including abortion, pornography, and the women's movement.
  7. Holland, S. (2003). Bioethics: a Philosophical Introduction Cambridge, UK : Polity Press; New York : Distributed in the USA by Blackwell Pub.
  8. Finn, J.T. (2005-04-23). ""Birth Control" Pills cause early Abortions". Pro-Life America — Facts on Abortion. prolife.com. Retrieved 2009-01-02.
  9. "Emergency 'Contraception' and Early Abortion". United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. 1998-08-01. Retrieved 2009-01-02.
  10. Wallace, James Matthew. "Atheist and Agnostic Pro-Life League Homepage". Retrieved November 4, 2006.
  11. "Secular ProLife". Retrieved 2010-12-06.
  12. "Feminists for Life".
  13. Catechism of the Catholic Church para.2271, "Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law: 'You shall not kill the embryo by abortion and shall not cause the newborn to perish'". Vatican website. Accessed 2011-02-05.
  14. Pew Forums
  15. Mapping the social landscape: readings in sociology By Susan J. Ferguson
  16. Sex, Politics, and Religion: The Clash Between Poland and the European Union over Abortion by Alicia Czerwinski in the Denver Journal of International Law and Policy, 2003
  17. Официальный сайт Русской Православной Церкви
  18. True to the Faith (LDS) article on abortion. Retrieved 2006-05-06.
  19. ^ "Religious Groups’ Official Positions on Abortion" Pew Forum
  20. The rebirth of orthodoxy: signs of new life in Christianity. HarperCollins. Retrieved 2009–01–04. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  21. ^ Islamic ethics of life: abortion, war, and euthanasia By Jonathan E. Brockopp
  22. BBC "Hinduism and abortion"
  23. "Legal but not available" India Together
  24. ^ Business Week
  25. Hinduism Today
  26. Feminism & Nonviolence Studies | Date: 9/22/1998 | Author: Derr, Mary Krane; Murti, Vasu
  27. Chapter 1: Dilemmas of Life and Death: Hindu Ethics in a North American Context | Date: 1995 | Author: Crawford, S. Cromwell
  28. Jakobovits, Sinclair
  29. ^ "Jewish pro-life activist Medved says children are ‘a gift, not a choice’" Jewish Chronical
  30. ^ Efrat
  31. ^ The making of pro-life activists: how social movement mobilization works By Ziad W. Munson
  32. ^ They Kingdom Come a book by Randall Herbert Balmer, Professor of Religion and History at Columbia University.
  33. NPR.org "Church Meets State in the Oval Office" on Fresh Air
  34. NPR.org "Charismatic Movement"
  35. ^ They Kingdom Come pg. 12, a book by Randall Herbert Balmer, Professor of Religion and History at Columbia University.
  36. McKeegan, M. (1993), "The politics of abortion: A historical perspective", Women's Health Issues 3 (3), pp. 127–131
  37. Baptist Press"Sparks fly in Land’s appearance at black columnists’ meeting"
  38. Outshoorn, Joyce (1996). "The stability of compromise: Abortion politics in Western Europe". In Marianne Givens and Dorothy M. Stetson (ed.). Abortion politics: public policy in cross-cultural perspective. Routledge. p. 161. ...parliamentary decision are sustained by political parties which, in comparison to the United States, are deeply rooted in European society. The political parties have managed to regulate and pacify the political reform process, which in the decision-making stage marginalized opposition outside parliament.
  39. Agence France Presse, 17 October 2009
  40. National Right to Life Mission Statement.
  41. Member Organizations, Consistent Life.
  42. The Catholic Campaign to End the Use of the Death Penalty, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
  43. Pew Research Centre "Public Opinion Supports Alito on Spousal Notification Even as It Favors Roe v. Wade".
  44. (See, e.g., Judith Jarvis Thompson, "A Defense of Abortion," Journal of Philosophy and Public Affairs, 1 (1971), p. 47.)
  45. World Health Organization paper: 'Unsafe abortion: the preventable pandemic' http://www.who.int/reproductivehealth/publications/general/lancet_4.pdf.
  46. 2004 Republican Party Platform: A Safer World and a More Hopeful America p. 84.
  47. Its connected Candidate Fund increases the percentage of pro-life women in politics., http://www.suzyb.org/blog/Elections Retrieved 25 September 2008.
  48. "Historic win close after Bart Stupak deal"
  49. Chamberlain, Pam and Jean Hardisty. (2007) "The Importance of the Political 'Framing' of Abortion". The Public Eye Magazine Vol. 14, No. 1. Retrieved January 18, 2008.
  50. "The Roberts Court Takes on Abortion". New York Times. November 5, 2006. Retrieved January 18, 2008.
  51. de Crespigny, L (2003). "Words matter: nomenclature and communication in perinatal medicine". Clinics in perinatology. 30 (1): 17–25. ISSN 0095-5108. Retrieved 2011-02-09. The language proposed is not intended to be rigidly adhered to in all situations but rather is an appropriate starting point after which one needs to be responsive to the position of the pregnant woman. It is important to individualize language to cater to the views of individual patients.
  52. Example of "anti-life" terminology
  53. Goldstein, Norm, ed. The Associated Press Stylebook. Philadelphia: Basic Books, 2007.
  54. Le Figaro, 17 October 2009
  55. http://nationallifechain.org Retrieved 25 September 2008.
  56. Pavone, Frank A."Should We Use Graphic Images?" Priests for Life Retrieved September 7, 2007. Quote: "Even among those who oppose abortion, answers to this question vary".
  57. ^ "NAF Violence and Disruption Statistics" (PDF). National Abortion Federation. Retrieved 2008-07-28.
  58. ^ Hill v. Colorado (98–1856) 530 U.S. 703 (2000). Retrieved December 13, 2006.
  59. "Controversy in the Activist Movement", Pro-Life Action News, August 2000.
  60. "The "Chicago Method": Sidewalk Counseling that appeals to the Mother's concerns for her own well-being," Priests for Life.
  61. http://www.birthright.org/htmpages/philo.htm
  62. Gibbs, Nancy (2007-02-15). "The Grass-Roots Abortion War". Time Magazine. Time Magazine. p. html. Retrieved 2009-12-18.
  63. Chandler, Michael Alison (2006-09-09). "Antiabortion Centers Offer Sonograms to Further Cause". Washington Post. Washington Post. p. html. Retrieved 2008-02-24. "By many accounts, the ultrasound exams have proven effective in convincing women to stay pregnant. A 2005 survey by Care Net, a Sterling-based network of about 1,000 antiabortion pregnancy centers in the United States and Canada, found that 72 percent of women who were initially "strongly leaning" toward abortion decided to carry their pregnancies to term after seeing a sonogram. Fifty percent made the same choice after counseling alone. A report in July from congressional Democrats found that the federal government has contributed $30 million to antiabortion pregnancy centers since 2001. Most of that money paid for sexual abstinence education. But some was distributed as grants to help pay for ultrasound machines, the report found. For example, Life Line Pregnancy Care Center in Loudoun County received a $50,000 federal grant last year to buy a machine. {{cite news}}: line feed character in |quote= at position 443 (help)
  64. "Abortion Battle: Prenatal Care or Pressure Tactics?" The Washington Post
  65. "Anti-Abortion Center's Ads Ruled Misleading" The New York Times
  66. Burge, Kathleen: "Driving force" Boston Globe, May 5, 2006
  67. Madigan, Erin: "Choose Life Car Tags Spark Debate" Stateline.org, November 25, 2002
  68. Single Issue Terrorism.
  69. Violence at US Abortion Clinics.
  70. "2005 National Clinic Violence Survey" (Template:PDFlink). Feminist Majority Foundation. May, 2006. Retrieved 5 February 2011. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  71. "Suspect in slaying of abortion provider George Tiller being returned to Wichita." (May 31, 2009). kansascity.com. Retrieved May 31, 2009.
  72. National Right to Life Condemns the Killing of Dr. George Tiller
  73. Pro-Life Leaders Respond to Tiller Shooting
  74. Pro-Life Tiller Response Continues: Shooting Abortion Practitioner Not Pro-Life
  75. NATIONAL RIGHT TO LIFE CONDEMNS VIOLENCE
  76. Pro-life proclamation against violence.
  77. Eden Pontz (2009-09-11). "Police: Shooting suspect offended by anti-abortion material". CNN. CNN.com. p. 1. Retrieved 2010-05-13. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
    "Anti-Abortion Activist 'Targeted' in Killing". FOXNews.com. Associated Press. 2009-09-11. p. 1. Retrieved 2010-05-13.
    Liz Shaw (2009-09-11). "Owosso anti-abortion activist's identity released as victim of homicide in front of Owosso, Michigan high school". Flint Journal. MLive.com. p. 1. Retrieved 2010-05-13.
  78. "3rd target flees after anti-abortion activist killed". Crime & courts on msnbc.com. msnbc.com. 9/13/2009. Retrieved 2011-01-25. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  79. "Obama: Killing of anti-abortion activist 'deplorable'" (Document). The Associated Press. Sep 13 2009. {{cite document}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |accessdate= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |url= ignored (help)CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  80. Zganjar, Leslie (Oct 7 1994), Shot misses abortion protester scuffle, The Associated Press, retrieved June 3, 2009 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  81. Police: Abortion doctor pulls gun
  82. Rob Moll (2005-08-10). "Planned Parenthood Affiliate Quietly Removes Cartoon Advocating Violence Against Pro-lifers". Christianity Today. p. 1. Retrieved 2010-05-13.

External links

Globe icon.The examples and perspective in this section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. You may improve this section, discuss the issue on the talk page, or create a new section, as appropriate. (November 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
United States
Abortion
Main topics
Movements
Issues
By country
Africa
Asia
Europe
North America
Oceania
South America
Law
Methods
Religion
Categories: