Before getting into this, I should probably note for the record that I am, despite a measure of personal squeamishness, implacably committed to protecting the fundamental right of every woman to make her own choice on the question of abortion. Period. Full stop. And, now, with that rather craven, ass-covering disclaimer out of the way, let me just say that I think the normally spot-on Scott Lemieux (via Pandagon) is mistaken here. We pro-choicers simply seem unable (as a group, anyway) to take seriously the notion that, for some, each and every abortion involves the murder of an unborn child, and, further, to recognize that this relatively widespread, sincerely-held belief in an ongoing and constitutionally sanctioned holocaust has certain rather inevitable consequences. (Frankly, if I truly believed what the other side does on this issue, I'd be out in front of an abortion clinic this morning with a picture of a bloody fetus myself.)

Fact is, the relentless mobilization of anti-abortion activists has been central to the rise -- though, as Scott rightly notes, not the existence -- of movement conservatism here in the US, and no amount of learned analysis of the available data (which, at times, seems to be our real political forte, as opposed to, say, winning elections) by those of us on the left is going to obscure that elemental electoral truth.