Many people think the religious right arose as a response to the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, but that’s not true, it began when religious leaders such as Jerry Falwell and Paul Weyrich arbitrarily chose abortion as an issue which could unite conservative evangelicals and Catholics as a political force. While Catholics believe in the pre-existence of the soul, evangelicals prior to this had embraced family planning and had largely welcomed Roe. Evangelicals had mainly viewed the government with distrust and believed the life of the mother took precedence in any ethical determination without interference from the state. This provocative series of five programs examines the sanctity/holiness of life as a social, moral and spiritual issue in emotive, visual terms that created a political movement.
