Exploring how religion has shaped the abortion debate

The Catholic Church in particular is credited with organizing and driving the anti-abortion movement for decades, but religious arguments shape the pro-choice side, too.

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Jan 23, 2012

Al Fabula, of Severna Park, MD stands in front of the Supreme Court with his antiabortion signs. The annual March for Life Rally marks the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision by the Supreme Court. The event was held in Washington, D.C.

Sarah L. Voisin / THE WASHINGTON POST

Jan 23, 2012

Penny Washer, of Crawfordsville, IN kneels in front of pro-choice protestors during a counter-protest of the March for Life.

Sarah L. Voisin / THE WASHINGTON POST

Jan 23, 2012

An antiabortion protestor holds a rosary as he prays. The annual March for Life Rally marks the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision by the Supreme Court.

Sarah L. Voisin / THE WASHINGTON POST

Jan 23, 2012

Sister Fran of the Salesian sisters in Newton, NJ engaged with a pro-choice protestor at the March for Life.

Sarah L. Voisin / THE WASHINGTON POST

Jan 23, 2012

Antiabortion activists march up Constitution Avenue at the March for Life rally in Washington, D.C.

Brendan Hoffman / GETTY IMAGES

Jan 23, 2012

Anti-abortion demonstrators take part in the "March for Life" in Washington. Nearly 100,000 protesters marched to the U.S. Supreme Court to mark the 39th anniversary of Roe v. Wade.

KEVIN LAMARQUE / REUTERS

Jan 23, 2012

Abortion rights demonstrators arrive to counter-protest against the March for Life on the 39th anniversary of the Roe vs Wade decision, in front of the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington.

JONATHAN ERNST / REUTERS

Jan 14, 2012

Anti-abortion advocates participating in the Erie March For Life, march west from Perry Square on West 6th Street.

Jack Hanrahan / AP

Jan 21, 2012

Pink and blue balloons are released at the Louisiana State Capital behind about 3,500 during the 2nd annual Louisiana Life March. The anti-abortion march is a collaborative effort by the Louisiana Conference of Catholic Bishops, Louisiana Right to Life Federation, Louisiana Knights of Columbus, Louisiana Baptist Convention, Louisiana Family Forum and Louisiana’s Concerned Women For America. The March complements the National March for Life in Washington D.C. scheduled for Monday, January 23. (AP Photo/The Advocate, Heather McClelland) MAGS OUT; INTERNET OUT; NO SALES; TV OUT; NO FORNS; LOUISIANA BUSINESS INC. OUT (INCLUDING GREATER BATON ROUGE BUSINESS REPORT, 225, 10/12, INREGISTER, LBI CUSTOM)

Heather McClelland / AP

Jan. 16, 2012

Republican presidential candidate and former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum, left, leaves the Faith and Freedom Coalition rally with his wife, Karen, in Myrtle Beach, S.C. The Santorums, who are Catholic, talk freely on the campaign trail about how their experience with pregnancy loss and a terminally ill daughter shaped their antiabortion politics.

David Goldman / AP

Jan. 24, 2011

Protesters march in front of the Supreme Court during the annual Rally and March for Life that included antiabortion groups from across the country to express their opposition to Roe vs. Wade.

Matt McClain / The Washington Post

After President Obama issued plans for an executive order denying federal funds to subsidize abortion in the health-care bill, Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), the leader the antiabortion holdouts, announced his support for the bill. Stupak, a Catholic, found himself in the middle of a fierce debate within antiabortion circles over whether Obama's order did enough to prevent taxpayer funding for abortion.

Melina Mara / The Washington Post

Dec. 6, 2010

Antiabortion activists pray during a protest of abortion doctor LeRoy Carhart in Germantown. Nebraska abortion doctor LeRoy Carhart is one of the few doctors in the country to perform late-term abortions and recently began practicing in a Germantown abortion clinic.

Ricky Carioti / The Washington Post

May 8, 2009

A truck adorned with antiabortion protest signs is seen during a protest at Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind. A number of Notre Dame students protested the school's awarding of an honorary degree to President Obama on campus during commencement over the president's abortion-rights stance.

Joe Raymond / AP

Jan. 22, 2009

An antiabortion activist holds a cross near a Planned Parenthood in Dubuque, Iowa, to protest the 36th anniversary of the Supreme Court's ruling on Roe v. Wade.

Jeremy Portje / AP

Feb. 29, 2008

Pope Benedict XVI speaks with Washington's new ambassador, Mary Ann Glendon, at the Vatican. The pontiff told Glendon that he appreciates efforts by what he said are the many Americans opposed to abortion, euthanasia and gay marriage. He welcomed the American people's "historic" appreciation of the role of religion in shaping public policy. Mary Ann Glendon, a Harvard law professor and antiabortion scholar, took up the post as ambassador to the Holy See just six weeks before Benedict's first trip to United States.

/ AP

Jan., 22, 2008

Thousands gather on the Mall to listen to speeches before heading to the Supreme Court in the annual March for Life.

Katherine Frey / The Washington Post

May 13, 2006

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and the Rev. Jerry Falwell, chancellor of Liberty University, talk as Liberty University's commencement begins in Lynchburg, Va.

Don Petersen / AP

Jan. 23, 2006

With a rosary in hand, abortion opponent Nick Schadler from Dubuque, Iowa, left, prays for abortion rights activist James Ferguson from San Diego as the two sides faced off in front of the Supreme Court in Washington. The rally was held to mark the 33rd anniversary of the Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion.

Charles Dharapak / AP

Jan. 26, 2004

In 2004, Archbishop Bishop Raymond Burke issued a pastoral letter saying no Catholic may vote for a candidate who supports the "intrinsically evil" acts of abortion, embryonic stem cell research, euthanasia, cloning and same-sex marriage. The St. Louis area is largely Roman Catholic, and many Catholic voters were divided over whether they must consider a range of moral and social issues or whether no issue is more important than abortion.

Tom Gannam / AP

June 29, 2003

U.S. Archbishop of Milwaukee Timothy Michel Dolan, right, holds Pope John Paul's hand after receiving the pallium in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican. Dolan, 59, now leads the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and is widely seen as an affable extrovert, working to more vocally advance issues close to the U.S. Catholic Church, including poverty relief and opposition to abortion.

Max Rossi / Reuters

April 17, 1999

Abortion rights advocate Donald Doering, of Amherst, N.Y., a Humanist minister for Humanist Society of Friends, offers to shake hands with Matt Bowman, of Madison, Wis., a lone anti-abortion advocate demonstrating during the Buffalo United for Choice '99 abortion rights rally in Buffalo, N.Y.

DAVID DUPREY / ASSOCIATED PRESS

March 22, 1999

Rev. Katherine Hancock Ragsdale, an Episcopal Church priest and board chair for the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, comments at a news conference on the Capitol steps in Tallahassee, Fla. Ragsdale said the abortion parental notification measure being considered by the legislature is "morally wrong".

MARK FOLEY / ASSOCIATED PRESS

Jan 22, 1998

Abortion rights supporter Sarita Morse of Rockland, N.Y., argues a point with anti-abortion supporters in front of the Supreme Court, in Washington, D.C, on the twenty-fifth anniversary to the day of the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion.

TYLER MALLORY / ASSOCIATED PRESS

Oct 15, 1991

Activists from both sides of the abortion debate demonstrate in front of the Supreme Court in Washington. The court heard arcuments over federal court authority to deal with protesters who block women's access to abortion clinics. AFP Photo / Robert Giroux

Robert Giroux / AFP

Sept 29, 1991

A pro-choice demonstrator, holding a coat hanger twisted into the shape of a cross, stands alongside a nun participating in an anti-abortion "chain of life." More than 2000 pro-choice activists marched down Fifth Avenue in New York City past anti-abortion demonstrators.

AFP photo

June 16, 1991

Counter-demonstrators to a pro-choice "life-chain" between Baltimore and Annapolis, Md. Tara Uger, front, Jennifer Bland, back.

Carol Guzy

June 29, 1990

Cardinal John J. O'Connor, archbishop of New York, clenches his fist as he pleads for more antiabortion support from activists during his speech in Rosemont, Ill., a suburb of Chicago.

Charles Bennett / AP

Sept 17, 1989

Some 2,500 people attend a Pro Choice rally sponsored by the National Organization for Women, NOW, in Hollywood, Fla. Feminists and pro-choice advocates staged the rally to kick off an offensive to ease Florida's current abortion restrictions.

TODD ESSICK / ASSOCIATED PRESS

Jan. 22, 1980

A nun and a protester dressed to symbolize death meet on the Ellipse in Washington before going to the Capitol to demonstrate against the Supreme Court decision easing restrictions on abortion. The demonstrators wanted Congress to adopt a constitutional amendment outlawing abortions.

Jeff Taylor / AP

Oct. 16, 1980

The Rev. Jerry Falwell, founder and president of Moral Majority, a conservative political action group that urged political candidates to oppose the Equal Rights Amendment, abortion and gay rights, gestures during a speech at the National Press Club in Washington.

Dennis Cook / AP

Sept. 10, 1976

Three years after Roe v. Wade, a group of Roman Catholic leaders talk with reporters in the White House press room after meeting with President Gerald Ford to discuss abortion. From left, Archbishop John McGuire of New York City; Bishop James Malone of Youngstown, Ohio; Bishop James Rausch of Washington; Archbishop Joseph Bernardin of Cincinnati, president of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops and the U.S. Catholic Conference; Archbishop John Carberry of St. Louis; and Terence Cardinal Cooke, archbishop of New York.

/ AP

Anti-abortion advocates participating in the Erie March For Life, march west from Perry Square on West 6th Street on Saturday, Jan. 14, 2012. The event is held on the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision on 1973. / (AP Photo/Erie Times-News, Jack Hanrahan) MAGS OUT, TV OUT

Jack Hanrahan / AP

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