Traditionally Democratic Catholics started defecting to Republicans opposed to abortion in late 1970s Senate races and the 1980 presidential election. Traditionally Republican mainline Protestants who supported Planned Parenthood — people like Dorothy Walker Bush, mother and grandmother of presidents — started finding Democrats more palatable.
By the election of 1992 — which mainstream media proclaimed the “year of the woman” in Senate races — almost all Democratic politicians and most Democratic voters were pro-choice on abortion. Pro-life Pennsylvania governor Bob Casey was denied a speaking slot at the Democratic National Convention. And almost all Republican politicians (including the George Bushes) and most Republican voters were pro-life. Abortion had become a litmus test for both parties’ nominations.
Through all this partisan churning, public opinion on the issue has remained pretty steady. Most Americans don’t want abortion recriminalized, but most also consider it morally dubious and support measures to limit it. Young voters are less supportive of abortion than their elders.
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