Hello, Religion Group members.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. "The sanctity of life" has fck-all to do with it.

I'll give the Pope a little credit for at least being consistent; he also opposes the death penalty and supports anti-poverty initiatives. But the evangelicals are generally in favor of the death penalty and have no interest in doing anything to help babies once they're born, or their mothers. Too poor to support a child? Sucks to be you, you gotta have it anyhow and you and the baby are on your own.

The reason the most recent legislation out of Alabama and other states was made so extreme was to make sure it would be challenged in court so the Supreme Court would (they hope) reverse Roe v. Wade. But previous legislation, however restrictive, has always included exceptions for rape, incest and the life or health of the woman. These exceptions were to make the bills politically palatable enough that they would be passed. But if you want to mess with an evangelical pro-lifer's head, ask them why those exceptions are OK if abortion is murder. The only possible answers can be either that not all abortions are murder or that some kinds of murder are OK. If all unborn embryos/fetuses are equally innocent, why is abortion not murder, or else an OK kind of murder, in some situations or not in others?

They're on a slippery slope and they know it; if abortion could be made illegal in all cases the laws would be completely untenable, so they have to be satisfied with making it illegal in as many cases as possible. But the reason clearly isn't because of the so-called sanctity of life (otherwise they'd insist all abortion is wrong); it's to control women's sexuality and limit their agency.