Before I begin, I just want to say that this is not about should abortion be legal or not, its not even about whether its moral or not...hear me out... I can't say i'm an expert on the subject per se, but i've definitely had in interest in the mechanisms by which ideas spread and evolve... Very nearby where I live there is something called planned parenthood, this is a clinic whose one of many services include abortion. From what I understand its a very small percentage of the services they render. but whatever. Outside the buildings property you can nearly always see a group of dedicated Christians pleading for women to reconsider their abortions (they always assume they're getting an abortion) They advise them that there is alternative help and that the baby can always be given up for adoption. Always they're emphasizing the pain an abortion can have on a woman and some of the physical dangers as well. Now the thing about this clinic, and others like it is that its free. People that genuinely go there for abortion are in most likely hood, the lower class. People that cannot make ends meet. Understandable...my point is that its interesting to note that if these women didn't have abortions the children that would grow up would probably also grow up in the lower class. So my next point is: which demographic group is most likely to believe in the Christian Doctrine? Again i'm not a sociologist but at least it appears to be that the poor are very likely to adopt Christian (including catholic) views. So there I observed a mechanism. Basically maximize the population (which inevitably leads to a higher population of the poor) Maximize Christians. What it seems like it to me really, is that the abortion issue is a vehicle for evangelism. As I thought about it further I realized a lot of Christianities beliefs are just vehicles for evangelism. A mechanism by which the church replicates its doctrine. Not unlike the way Orwell described it... For example homosexuality, the issue seems to have a lot of faces but I think ultimitately its about not associating something that (honestly) off sets people, could even disgust them. People have this image of God, and when you analyze it its very much like the image they have of their father or mother, one of seeking approval and absolving them of guilt... Our brains connect and categorize in the least obvious ways. For example you might like words that sound like your own name or have the same letters or you might associate arbitrary things to be masculine or femminine but for someone that has a brained wired to associate god with even a greater version of their parents or themselves it can be difficult to rewire to think god has no problem with homosexuality. So instead its easier to not renovate our categorical structures and just put homosexuality in the category of evil or perverse or whatever.... I don't imagine I explained myself very well but I guess to summarize I'm just saying that often times christianity is not about morality nor even about making people better people or happier its about working the biology of the brain, the way we categorize/conceptualize to divide our opinion in a favorable way to the church. And of course to increase behaviors that lead to those more loyal to the church. well, i just kinda wrote it as it came to mind...sorry i'm not one of those essayists but yeah food for though no?