Early abortion politics pitted Catholic lobbyists against Protestant Republicans, not secular against religious

Evidence

In response, a number of Catholics mobilized to oppose the expansion of abortion rights. Thus, the abortion battles of the middle decades of the twentieth century did not divide the religious against the secular, nor did they divide one party from the other. On the contrary, as Daniel K. Williams, professor of history at the University of West Georgia, points out: “The early political battles over abortion in state legislatures pitted Catholic antiabortion lobbyists against Protestant proponents of abortion law liberalization, with most Republican legislators siding with the Protestants.” As Williams goes on to note, “many Republicans supported the liberalization of state abortion laws, believing that abortion law reform accorded well with the party’s tradition of support for birth control, middle-class morality, and Protestant values.” Billy Graham echoed widely shared Protestant sentiments when he said in 1968, “In general, I would disagree with [the Catholic stance],” adding, “I believe in planned parenthood.” Indeed, the most liberal abortion law in the country was signed in 1967 by California’s Republican governor, Ronald Reagan. — Katherine Stewart, The Power Worshippers, 265

Categorization

• XREF: Directly overturns the familiar claim that religious conservatives have always led anti-abortion politics; connects to the chapter’s thesis about how Christian right politics realigned from Protestant-Catholic hostility into fusion. — connects to: The religious right’s founding coalition was initially indifferent to abortion. — Katherine Stewart, The Power Worshippers: Inside the…, 234; Anti-abortion politics brokered the Protestant-Catholic right-wing alliance. — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long: The Legacy of White…, 37; Catholics entered whiteness by importing abortion politics into conservative Protestantism — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long: The Legacy of White…, 39 (+1 more)
• QUESTION: When and how did anti-abortion politics flip from a Catholic signature issue into a Protestant-evangelical one fused with the GOP?

Broader Connections

• Anti-abortion politics brokered the Protestant-Catholic right-wing alliance. #expands (0.85) — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long, 37
• Catholics entered whiteness by importing abortion politics into conservative Protestantism #qualifies (0.80) — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long, 39