ADRIAN FLORIDO, HOST:
Overturning Roe v. Wade has been arguably the single most animating cause among conservatives in America for decades. Now a leaked draft Supreme Court opinion has made it apparent that goal is close to reality. NPR's Deepa Shivaram reports on how the issue of abortion came to define Republican politics.
DEEPA SHIVARAM, BYLINE: Abortion wasn't always as politically charged as it is today. Even after the Supreme Court ruled on Roe v. Wade in 1973, there were Democratic and Republican candidates against abortion for a long time, in part to appeal to Catholic voters. Then in 1976, Republicans adopted an anti-abortion stance in their party platform, and the GOP became this political vehicle for the movement as a more vocal Christian right started to rise. Here's Ronald Reagan at the March for Life rally in 1988.
