Anti-abortion politics brokered the Protestant-Catholic right-wing alliance.

Evidence

But when Protestant Christian Right leaders such as Jerry Falwell Sr. followed the advice of Catholic political activist Paul Weyrich to include opposition to abortion as a leading issue for the nascent movement in the late 1970s—as white Protestants were increasingly fleeing the Democratic Party over its support for civil rights—old antipathies quickly gave way to the promise of new political alliances. — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long, 37

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The ‘family values’ coalition fused Catholic abortion politics with Protestant white supremacy. — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long: The Legacy of White…, 39; Evangelical opposition to abortion was initially uncertain and politically constructed — Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne: How White…, 160; Proposed rallying issues for the Religious Right included gay rights before abortion — Randall Balmer, Bad Faith: Race and the Rise of the…, 120 (+6 more)

Broader Connections

• Evangelical opposition to abortion was initially uncertain and politically constructed #qualifies (0.85) — Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne, 160
• Conservatives commandeered the once-diverse antiabortion movement #expands (0.85) — Randall Balmer, Bad Faith, 170
• Proposed rallying issues for the Religious Right included gay rights before abortion #complicates (0.80) — Randall Balmer, Bad Faith, 120
• Forced desegregation of Christian schools, not abortion, sparked the Christian Right #complicates (0.80) — Andrew L. Whitehead, American Idolatry, 530
• Christian nationalism predicts abortion opposition independently of religiosity and partisanship #expands (0.75) — Andrew L. Whitehead; Samuel L. Perry, Taking America Back for God, 249