The Shifting Politics of Abortion

Was it only last July that pro-life forces were cheering themselves hoarse? After years of battling in the streets, the legislatures and the courts, they had won their greatest victory: a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in Webster v. Reproductive Health Services, Inc. that gives states enhanced power to restrict abortions. It was only a matter of time, pro-lifers predicted, before abortions were severely restricted, if not banned.

Three months later, pro-lifers must be wondering what hit them. Abortion- rights groups, perhaps with their fingers crossed, had promised that the Webster decision would galvanize a silent pro-choice majority. Last week,...