Evangelicals adopted anti-abortion politics six years after Roe for political gain

Evidence

As the historian and author Randall Balmer writes, “It wasn’t until 1979—a full six years after Roe—that evangelical leaders, at the behest of conservative activist Paul Weyrich, seized on abortion not for moral reasons, but as a rallying-cry to deny President Jimmy Carter a second term. Why? Because the anti-abortion crusade was more palatable than the religious right’s real motive: protecting segregated schools.” — Katherine Stewart, The Power Worshippers, 255

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the theme of moral panics and manufactured movements in the reader’s knowledge base, and to Fetishism and activism-as-strategy literatures. — connects to: Leading evangelicals initially endorsed Roe as a church-state separation victory — Randall Balmer, Bad Faith: Race and the Rise of the…, 92; Evangelical opposition to abortion was initially uncertain and politically constructed — Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne: How White…, 160; The Religious Right’s abortion politics predate Roe and were chosen for strategic reasons — Katherine Stewart, The Power Worshippers: Inside the…, 222 (+12 more)
• QUESTION: Balmer’s claim is contestable — worth checking against other historians of the religious right who locate earlier anti-abortion engagement among evangelicals pre-1973.

Broader Connections

• Evangelical opposition to abortion was initially uncertain and politically constructed #corroborates (0.95) — Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne, 160
• Baptist leaders initially framed Roe as a victory for church-state separation #exemplifies (0.95) — Randall Balmer, Bad Faith, 94
• Leading evangelicals initially endorsed Roe as a church-state separation victory #corroborates (0.90) — Randall Balmer, Bad Faith, 92
• Conservative Christians originally welcomed Roe v. Wade as advancing religious liberty #corroborates (0.90) — Katherine Stewart, The Power Worshippers, 267
• Abortion failed for years to mobilize evangelicals before the IRS ruling #corroborates (0.90) — Randall Balmer, Bad Faith, 106
• 1978 pro-life upsets convinced Weyrich abortion could mobilize evangelical voters #expands (0.90) — Randall Balmer, Bad Faith, 125
• Few evangelical voices spoke against abortion through most of the 1970s #corroborates (0.85) — Randall Balmer, Bad Faith, 122
• The Religious Right’s founding narrative claims Roe v. Wade roused evangelicals from political passivity #contradicts (0.85) — Randall Balmer, Bad Faith, 89
• The Religious Right’s abortion politics predate Roe and were chosen for strategic reasons #contradicts (0.80) — Katherine Stewart, The Power Worshippers, 222
• Some evangelicals sincerely oppose abortion regardless of their movement’s origins #qualifies (0.80) — Randall Balmer, Bad Faith, 143
• Schlafly dated the modern pro-family movement to anti-ERA organizing, not to Roe #complicates (0.75) — Katherine Stewart, The Power Worshippers, 268