Souls, Bodies, Spirits: The Drive to Abolish Abortion Since 1973

The history of the abortion abolition effort in America is examined through three different approaches to the understanding of collective behaviour. Beginning with the immediate post-Roe period, this book explores the view of the movement as being a Catholic moral crusade, and Jacoby analyzes why Catholic Americans were particularly prone to such activity whilst otherwise theologically compatible Protestants were not. She then examines the effort as a major social movement beginning around 1980. Finally, the late-1980s development of direct action activity, most notably in the form of Operation Rescue, is viewed in light of its connection to the theology and expectations of religious revivalism. In her conclusions, Jacoby provides a new model for understanding faith-based political action. This examination of the anti-abortion movement should be of interest to teachers, students and the general public.