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Originally Posted by Scucca  The issue is whether there are differences in the impact of religion on anti-abortion attitudes across country types. Whilst I'm not advocating a state church, competition for flocks across churches may well lead to a reduced willingness to reject church demands |
Of course there are differences in the impact of religion on anti-abortion attitudes, since even different Protestant denominations vary greatly in their views on abortion. Competition for congregation members increases the number of people participating in religious activities, which means an increased number of people are exposed to anti-abortion preaching (the denominations which support choice generally don't mention abortion while anti-abortion denominations preach about it regularly). The vast majority of church members may not even know their particular denomination's teaching on abortion, and as Talloulou said, they will follow their own inclinations even if they do know. Because of competition, churches are not in a position to make "demands" upon their members, except for the few that practice excommunication.