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{
    "pk": 59740,
    "title": "Abortion and American Exceptionalism",
    "subtitle": null,
    "abstract": "<p>This Article explores why abortion is being recriminalized in the United States in sharp contrast to the historical evolution of reproductive rights. Its thesis is that abortion exemplifies American exceptionalism in the original sense of the phrase that America is an \"exception,\" especially within the Western world. Yet exceptionalism should not be misunderstood as historical determinism or cultural essentialism. By the early 1970s, America was converging with peer Western democracies in liberalizing abortion. This process of convergence was ultimately halted by the mounting influence of the U.S. pro-life movement in an age when tolerance or support for reproductive rights increasingly became the norm abroad. When Dobbs overruled Roe, it not only exacerbated polarization within America, but also the divide between America and other Western democracies. This divergence was epitomized by the criticism that Dobbs garnered from U.S. allies, which led to remarkable public statements by Justice Samuel Alito defending his decision from condemnation by foreign leaders. While abortion is often analyzed in isolation, this multidisciplinary Article focuses on its interrelationship with wider features of American exceptionalism. A distinctive religious landscape sheds light on the intensity of opposition to abortion among the substantial minority of Americans who share a traditionalist worldview. The history of Catholicism and evangelicalism in America has notably diverged from fellow Western societies in ways that are largely overlooked. This unique social environment has contributed to the resilience of the U.S. anti-abortion movement, which has an outsized impact due to the exeptional weight of lobbying by special interests over American government. By holding that religious opposition to abortion can legitimately be channeled through secularized law and policies, the U.S. Supreme Court has further enabled this movement to be highly effective. In contrast, organized opposition to abortion has declined elsewhere in the West concurrently with the decline of organized religion, especially traditionalist conceptions of Christianity. Modern America is now an outlier, refighting and relitigating an endless battle over abortion.</p>",
    "language": null,
    "license": {
        "name": "All rights reserved",
        "short_name": "Copyright",
        "text": "© the author(s). All rights reserved.",
        "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/authors"
    },
    "keywords": [],
    "section": "Articles",
    "is_remote": true,
    "remote_url": "https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8g70f22x",
    "frozenauthors": [
        {
            "first_name": "Mugambi",
            "middle_name": "",
            "last_name": "Jouet",
            "name_suffix": "",
            "institution": "",
            "department": ""
        }
    ],
    "date_submitted": "2025-10-20T16:08:31+01:00",
    "date_accepted": "2025-10-20T16:08:31+01:00",
    "date_published": "2025-01-01T00:00:00Z",
    "render_galley": null,
    "galleys": [
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            "label": "PDF",
            "type": "pdf",
            "path": "https://journalpub.escholarship.org/uclalaw_cjlr/article/59740/galley/48656/download/"
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    ]
}