Chapter 4: The Worldviews of Anti-Abortion Activists

This chapter unpacks the worldviews and orientations of the anti-abortion activists. Activists typically had a traditional and conservative understanding of family life, objected to what they saw as a permissive society which encouraged sexual promiscuity, and sought ultimate meaning and value in essentialised understandings of motherhood. Religious perspectives informed their understandings of abortion. Their relationship to God, and their belief that God fundamentally opposed abortion, was crucial to their activism. We will emphasise why it is the case that anti-abortion activists often seek to downplay their religious identities in relation to their activism, with science being routinely used as a means of appealing to a broader audience, but ultimately, their Christian faith is pivotal to their involvement and their perspectives.