Karl W. Smith, Columnist

The Abortion Debate Is Not Part of the Culture Wars

The culture wars are really about the pace of social change, not its direction.

May 21, 2019 at 3:30 PM UTC

Karl W. Smith is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. Previously, he was vice president for federal policy at the Tax Foundation and assistant professor of economics at the University of North Carolina.

An unusual debate.
Photographer: Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images

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The latest front in America’s culture wars is in Alabama. Or is it Georgia? Mississippi? Ohio? All these states, plus a few more, have passed anti-abortion statutes recently, yet more evidence of the intense polarization around issues of gender, sex and religion.

As usual, it’s not quite that simple. Abortion may be a uniquely divisive issue, and there are growing divisions among Americans along racial and economic lines. When it comes to issues of gender, sex and religion, however, Americans seem to be moving in tandem — and becoming more tolerant.