The Politics of Abortion

Trevin Wax provide a good review of a book called, The Politics of Abortion.

Here are some quotes from his review:

Hendershott recounts a 1964 meeting with several members of the Kennedy family. The meeting took place with clergy who made the case that one could be a good Catholic and still vote for abortion rights.

But the Kennedys are not alone. Hendershott puts together a long list of prominent politicians who were at one time pro-life, but who abandoned pro-life convictions for political expediency. On the list? Bill Clinton. Al Gore. Jesse Jackson. Ted Kennedy. (I was astonished at some of the pro-life quotes from these men!)

Hendershott shows that by the 1980’s, the “pro-choice elites” had hijacked the Democratic Party. Yet even then, Governor Bill Clinton was still telling the people in Arkansas that he opposed abortion and government funding. By the 1990’s, the Democratic party’s pro-choice identity was sealed. Robert Casey, a pro-life Democrat, was not even allowed to speak at the Democratic National Convention.

And...

The beginning of the book is quite depressing. To see people sacrifice the unborn on the altar of political ambition is enough to make the reader nauseous.

And yet, the second half of the book turns hopeful. Hendershott shows that a robust debate over abortion is taking place on college campuses. She also documents the many grassroots pro-life initiatives that have been changing hearts and minds. It seems that these recent developments are creating an environment in which the abortion wars may one day come to an end.

If you wonder why the abortion issue is brought up every election cycle, then you will benefit from The Politics of Abortion. Hendershott exposes the financial interests at stake.

This book also serves as a warning to those of us who might be tempted to sell out our Christian convictions for political leverage. We should always be wary of political movements that seek to co-opt religious terminology or leadership in order to establish a better case for one position, whether on the right or the left of the political spectrum.