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Roe v Wade History
It is unclear to me what would happen if Roe v Wade was challenged in the Supreme Court. Prior to 7-2 ruling in 1973, abortion was allowed in a few states (Hawaii, New York, Alaska and Washington). Would it revert to states rights to legislate or would the court legislate from the bench and unilaterally ban abortion in all trimesters for all America? In effect the court would have to rule that the 14th Amendment does NOT apply. It would be a major setback for women declaring that abortion is not a right granted under the 14th amendment.
What is playing out here is the power of the religious right to dictate government policy. In looking at the above history of Roe v Wade I find it interesting that the decisions to ban abortion in the past seem to be driven more by political motivations than by Biblical edict. From the above link:
"In the late 1850s, the newly established American Medical Association began calling for the criminalization of abortion, partly in an effort to eliminate doctors’ competitors such as midwives and homeopaths.
"Additionally, some nativists, alarmed by the country’s growing population of immigrants, were anti-abortion because they feared declining birth rates among white, American-born, Protestant women.
"In 1869, the Catholic Church banned abortion at any stage of pregnancy, while in 1873, Congress passed the Comstock law, which made it illegal to distribute contraceptives and abortion-inducing drugs through the U.S. mail. By the 1880s, abortion was outlawed across most of the country."
Likewise as the Huffington Post reports, no where in the Bible can anyone find a decree that specifically addresses abortion and for good reason. "Biblical writers don’t talk about sperm fertilizing eggs. They talk about male “seed” planted in fertile female ground. "
My opinion is that it is more to so with nativist (e.g. white American protestant, Catholics, Mormons, etc.) worrying about the declining number of adherents to their respective faiths if abortion is practiced in a big way. Not only is abortion banned within their respective churches but they are also encouraged to have large families (usually four or more) so that they can grow their religion from within as well as converting others to their beliefs.
In any case, Trump has made it a political football now to pander to the religious right for votes. I doubt whether he understands or gives a shit about abortion per se but he can count votes.