July 10, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) – In this week’s episode of The Van Maren Show, Jonathon Van Maren speaks with Dr. Daniel K. Williams, author of two books published by Oxford University Press, God’s Own Party: The Making of the Christian Right and Defenders of the Unborn: The Pro-Life Movement Before Roe v. Wade. This week’s episode and Dr. Shaw’s second book are absolutely filled with information that everyone in the pro-life movement needs to know.
There is a broad understanding that the pro-life movement was simply a reactionary movement to Roe v. Wade imposing abortion across the United States in 1973. In reality, this is not the case. History shows that some of the first pro-life laws were passed in the 1800's in response to doctors’ discovery that life began long before “quickening,” which is when the mother could first feel the baby in the womb. These Protestant doctors stated that human beings in the womb deserve protection under the law. It's also important to note that it wasn't until much later during the pro-life movement that abortion became associated with “right-wing” or conservative beliefs.
Williams states that he would like abortion supporters to understand that “pro-life activism is not necessarily a product of conservatism. It wasn’t originally a product of conservatism.” It also wasn’t formed as a “backlash against women’s rights.” For pro-lifers, he says, “liberalism does not have to be the enemy and it has become the enemy partly because of the choices the pro-life movement made, as well as choices the pro-choice movement made.”
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