| dc.description.abstract | Access to abortion has been a constitutionally protected right for women in the U.S. since the 1973 Roe v. Wade landmark decision. However, the decision was overturned in 2022. Religious groups have played a central role in the abortion debate. Reaching far beyond personal convictions, they have merged personal beliefs with political agendas, altering the country´s political landscape. The New Religious Right, a conservative political movement, is credited with having played an instrumental part in the overturning, amongst others, through influencing judicial appointments and state legislation. The U.S. has a longstanding legal tradition of separating religion and government, but including religious arguments in legal aspects appears to breach this legal canon. This inclusion raises the question of how groups associated with the New Religious Right have achieved such extensive levels of political and judicial control and if the wall of separation between church and state has been breached.
Examination of the religious groups´ efforts to overturn Roe shows that the success of the movement in arousing political involvement by previously uninvolved groups has played a tremendous role in their success, along with the creation of strategic interest organizations and the development of a coordinated infrastructure for networking and financial contributions. The movement has successfully created a situation where they possess the power to suggest, pass, and uphold laws in accordance with conservative religious beliefs. It has furthermore reframed the issue of religious liberty to mean religiously above the law and has successfully created a situation where policies are enacted contrary to public opinion by favoring one religious view. While the overturning of Roe does not constitute a direct breach of the wall of separation, it contributes to the dismantling of the wall and the eventual degradation of the protection from religious influence by the state. | |