Abortion is still legal and generally accessible, so I'm not sure what evidence you can point to that the pro-life movement is undermining family values.

But one thing is for certain: conservatives have put all the marbles on making abortion illegal. If they achieve success, what will they do next?

I read a Gallup poll that 49% of Republican delegates at the convention support gay marriage. That's huge. The trend is definitely leftward on social issues, and I don't think abortion is any different.

The GOP has failed to stop even one abortion (the "partial-birth" abortion ban was pretty much a sham), and I doubt they really want to; it would eliminate one key issue for rousing the base into action.

I've read that the GOP's biggest fear actually is Roe v. Wade being overturned. For now, with no fear of any real action being taken to make abortions illegal, pro-choice voters (still a majority) will vote for Republicans.

Anyways, though, the real problem is social pressure. In some circles there is pressure not to have an abortion. The sad thing about Bristol Palin is that it's possible that she's being used as a political pawn. "Look, my 17-year-old daughter got knocked up and I'm not allowing her to get an abortion!"

"he's being used as a political pawn. "Look, my 17-year-old daughter got knocked up and I'm not allowing her to get an abortion!"

Actually, I think it is the other way around. Look, my 17 year old daughter is knocked up and she's choosing to have the baby. Put it my way and it sounds an awful lot like "choice"... But, choice is a dirty word when it comes to republicans. Much better that their children be allowed to have a choice, while the rest of us are forced, by law, to live without a choice...