The Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade at a time when it has an unprecedented Catholic supermajority.That’s not a coincidence. Nor is it the whole story. The justices who voted to overturn Roe have been shaped by a church whose catechism affirms ‘the moral evil of every procured abortion’ and whose U.S. bishops have declared opposition to abortion their ‘preeminent priority” in public policy. But that alone doesn’t explain the justices’ votes. U.S. Catholics as a whole are far more ambivalent on abortion than their church leaders, with more than half believing it should be legal in all or most circumstances, according to the Pew Research Center.
