Is it possible to write a consequential news story on the role of abortion in the 2020 presidential race without mentioning religion?
The New York Times has attempted it with an in-depth piece on a survey it did on Democratic candidates’ positions on the issue.
The Times reports that 2020 Democratic contenders — all of them — “unapologetically support abortion rights.”
The lede boils down the survey’s major findings:
The Democratic presidential field has coalesced around an abortion rights agenda more far-reaching than anything past nominees have proposed, according to a New York Times survey of the campaigns. The positions reflect a hugely consequential shift on one of the country’s most politically divisive issues.
Every candidate The Times surveyed supports codifying Roe v. Wade in federal law, allowing Medicaid coverage of abortion by repealing the Hyde Amendment, and removing funding restrictions for organizations that provide abortion referrals. Almost all of them say they would nominate only judges who support abortion rights, an explicit pledge Democrats have long avoided.
Very few support restrictions on abortions late in pregnancy. Seven say abortion pills should be available over the counter. Nine want a federal approval process for state abortion laws. And Joseph R. Biden Jr., whose ambivalence on abortion rights has been a theme for decades, is seeking to recast himself as a full-throated champion of them.
Click the link by Biden’s name, and a previous Times story delves into some of the issues related to the former vice president’s Catholic faith and his position on abortion. That’s a topic that we’ve covered at GetReligion recently (here and here, for example).
But the word “Catholic” does not appear in this new report on Democrats and abortion. Nor do terms such as “religion” and “faith” or even “pro-life” or “anti-abortion.”
Is this a matter of holy ghosts haunting the Times’ coverage?
Or is it more a matter of Democratic presidential candidates (devoid of any pro-lifers) not mentioning faith or religion when discussing abortion?
Along with the story, the Times includes a link to the full responses of candidates. In response to the question “What role should lawmakers’ personal views on abortion play in their policymaking?” one candidate — Pete Buttigieg responded:
Reproductive rights are essential to freedom in this country. I’m from a conservative state where many people I love and respect view the issue differently than I do as a pro-choice person. While some people of faith have different views, I believe that at the end of the day, this decision needs to be left to the person who is facing it. I trust them to make the right decision, and I don’t think the government imposing an answer on her is going to make that decision any better, medically or morally.
That was the only reference of any candidate to faith or religion.
Does that absolve the Times of the need to point out the influence of faith (complicated as it is) in shaping views on abortion in America? No. Not totally. But it does help explain it.
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