Abortion Controversy and the Influence of the Christian Church. Religion and Politics in the US

Seminar paper from the year 2020 in the subject Theology - Miscellaneous, grade: 1, , course: World Religions, language: English, abstract: This paper discusses the abortion controversy in the United States. It analyses the influence of the Christian Church on the debate whether abortion should be legal or illegal. This question is especially interesting because, even though the constitution requires a separation of church and state, the US government was in its origin partially defined by Christian values. Furthermore, while in other Western countries the importance of religion is declining, the United States is still a very devout country.

The discussion, whether abortion should be legal or not, is a never-ending topic all over the world. In America, it has been debated for decades. In presidential campaigns, it is always addressed, but never as much as in the 2020 race with the possible re-election of Donald Trump. Especially concerning the new seat in the supreme court, which was highly disputed.

Recently it was confirmed that the conservative judge Amy Coney Barrett will replace Ginsburg. This could mean that the judiciary branch of the federal government would develop to be more conservative. This could maybe even result in a re-discussion of Roe versus Wade. This would not only affect abortion policies strongly but moreover would be a huge occurrence for American Politics in general.

Even though the majority of the American population is positioned in the middle of both political positions, the extreme opinions of Pro-life and Pro-choice have dominated the discussion. Some people are even so involved or even obsessed (some even feel offended in their religious belief) that protests or smaller gatherings in front of abortion clinics are not uncommon. While Pro-choice believes in the option to decide, Pro-life thinks abortion is murder.

In general, pro-life tends to be the more conservative view on that topic as it is developing out of the traditional biblical opinion. In the past this had a clear influence on the political decisions concerning the abortion policies. The reason for this is, as we will see, the connection between the strictly believing evangelists and the republicans. How strong was the influence the Church took in this political debate if abortion should be legal or not?