January 6, 2004

Abortion and Political Realignment

By Richard Baehr
The debate over abortion has been an emotional one for thirty years in America. It is an issue on which partisans have shown little ability or willingness to compromise. When one side considers the procedure murder, and the other a constitutionally protected right, there is no split—the—difference compromise in sight. Certainly, some political realists on the pro—life side of the debate, anticipating that abortion will not be banned outright, have attempted to move the goalposts a little in their direction, by working to ban partial birth abortion or institute parental consent requirements in individual states. But one aspect of the abortion issue that is rarely addressed is the impact of the legalization of abortion on the country's political demography.  By this I mean: what of the  absence of the 40 million—plus who were never born since abortion was legalized?  Has their non—existence affected the political balance among those who...(Read Full Article)