@Rancid
The key is to basically pass legislation around this.
As religion wanes, and old people die, this becomes more possible. It's going to take along time to deregulate abortion.
I guess I have to defend religious people AND geezers.
Pew looked at this. For age the numbers are not that different. Only 12% difference between over 65 and under 30. Abortion is more favorably viewed by over 65 year olds than it is by 50-64 year olds. Then consider that in 50-64 year olds (Arguably the most politically powerful group and likely to remain so for the next 20 years or more) a whopping 46% believe abortion should be "illegal in most cases")
Religion
Only among white evangelical Christians does "illegal in most cases" carry the vote. And by a huge margin. Even Catholics favor pro choice. So the overwhelming majority of affiliated religious people in the US are pro choice. You could make a very good case for saying that this is a red herring though unaffiliated (which does NOT mean not religious) are pro choice by a considerable amount. The group that is getting all the noise and that is overwhelmingly anti abortion are those evangelicals; 77% if whom are anti abortion.
So look Rancid. Here is the deal that it appears I am alone in forwarding as the real issue.
1. Because of the Republican Party's masterful gathering of single issue voters into their tent, these people, joining with the gun lobby and anti-environmental folks, racists, anti immigrants (among others) are far more powerful than they ought to be.
2. Because of the "Southern Strategy" in the beginning and gerrymandering, though anti abortion people cannot elect a president, they can, as members of the coalition, elect a shit ton of senators, any one of which can stop the juggernaut.
3. Then add to that the unassailable fact that the Republicans are the pro business (meaning low business taxes if any at all) party and you get a ton of bucks. So even in the bluish districts, the red candidates start off with a nice bankroll.
4. Because of our absurd Senatorial system, the power favors the rural states which tend to be red ones. I would rather have a hereditary House of American Lords based upon wealth than the fucked up system we have now. Much prefer.
A lot of people here are trying to make a logical case for pro-choice positions. They are right of course. They are also trying to point out (Rich's great post) the hypocrisy of the anti-abortion crowd. They are right in this also. But that completely misses the point. Completely.
This had not one fucking thing to do with babies, immigration, welfare, living wages, or the death penalty. Nothing. It does not serve logical consistency at all.
This entire issue is not one bit more or one bit less that a cold, hard, dispassionate counting of votes within protected districts by the Republican Party. The poll numbers nationwide clearly show that if we took a majoritarian look at the issue, the USA is moderately pro-choice. And in the USA the majority does not elect a single
national official.