> Is the Catholic Church's official position that barrier
> methods/ C.I. are murder? I thought they climbed down from that centuries
> ago. Yes, there's a resurgence of that charge with the birth control pill
> and MAP here, but it's based on a theory of secondary action which classes
> those forms of birth control as possible abortions. In other words, when
> birth control is murder it's only because it's an extremely early abortion.
Frankly, I think you're drawing a distinction without a difference. Their position, as far as I understand it, is that all "artificial" methods of birth control are not only morally wrong but seriously morally wrong, and additionally that any methods that act after fertilisation are also murder. If this is a change from a previous position that saw all birth control as murder, it's a real stretch to call it a "liberalization". I'd just call it a tactical change in focus.
> In the U.S. the rhetoric of the right on abortion is around race and immigration, if you listen closely,
You're probably listening more closely than I am, since I haven't lived there for almost nine years now. Can you point me to any specific examples? I have to say it really hasn't featured in the debate here at all, even though race and immigration are pretty hot issues at the moment. There was a renewed debate in Britain over the summer too, due to a Conservative attempt to roll back the 24-week time limit (which was decisively rejected, thankfully), as well as a hysterical anti-abortion propaganda piece on Channel 4, but I didn't hear a lot of race-baiting in that debate either.
> I have my theory on why the abortion rights movement is not willing to go there, but this is not the forum.
Why not? I'm interested.