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The last week has been a momentous one for the pro-life movement and for religious freedom. The U.S. Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey and returned the issue of abortion to the states. And SCOTUS held that Maine may not exclude religious schools from a generally available tuition assistance program (Carson v. Makin); sided with a football coach that was placed on paid leave after leading an on-field, voluntary prayer after public high school football games; and reiterated its departure from the “Lemon Test” for Establishment Clause cases and emphasized that such cases must be interpreted with historical practices in mind (Kennedy v. Bremerton School District).
Given these cases and the direction of American jurisprudence and cultural generally, what’s next for the pro-life movement and religious freedom? In this interview, I discussed that question and a few other relevant topics with Ryan Anderson, the President of the Ethics and Public Policy Center. He is the author or co-author of five books, including the just-released Tearing Us Apart: How Abortion Harms Everything and Solves Nothing. Previous books include When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment, Truth Overruled: The Future of Marriage and Religious Freedom, What Is Marriage? Man and Woman: A Defense, and Debating Religious Liberty and Discrimination. He is the co-editor of A Liberalism Safe for Catholicism? Perspectives from “The Review of Politics.” Anderson’s research has been cited by two U.S. Supreme Court justices, Justice Samuel Alito and Justice Clarence Thomas, in two Supreme Court cases. And he has made appearances on ABC, CNN, CNBC, MSNBC, and Fox News. His work has been published by the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, the Harvard Health Policy Review, the Georgetown Journal of Law and Public Policy, First Things, the Claremont Review of Books, and National Review. You can find his full bio here.
Key Takeaways:
- Note that we recorded this interview prior to the release of the Dobbs case but with the full anticipation that Roe v. Wade would be overturned. As Ryan states, he can count to five [justices].”
- In his new book, Tearing Us Apart, Anderson and his co-author Alexandra DeSanctis detail why and how abortion has harmed everyone (even its strongest opponents) and provides practical talking points for discussions about the sanctity of life as the debate moves back to the states.
- Anderson explains why, in his opinion, Christians should pursue a national abortion ban sourced in the 14th amendment.
- He explains the circumstances around Amazon delisting his book When Harry Became Sally and the implications for others that stand up for an orthodox view of human sexuality.
- Next, he sets out some practical responses to the claims of the transgender movement.
- Finally, I asked him about a recent lecture/talk titled, “Why Religious Liberty is not Enough” and the concept that Christians love of neighbor should compel us to seek good policies and not just exemptions from bad laws.