ABORTION is an emotive issue in America, in a way that it will never be in Britain or continental Europe, in large part because of the depth of religious feeling in the country and its influence on American politics.

Since 1973, when abortion was legalised by the US Supreme Court in the landmark Roe v Wade ruling, abortion in America has been at the centre of an increasingly bitter and politically charged war.

Roe v Wade has been the subject of hundreds of political and legislative initiatives to overturn it. Presidential candidates must state their views on abortion. It is a political litmus test that can make or break an election campaign.

It has galvanised thousands of activists on both sides of the debate to protest and lobby Congress. And, as in the case of Paul Hill, it has spurred a small minority of religious fanatics to violence and murder.

Unlike Britain, abortion in the United States has always been a political issue. Unlike anywhere else in the world, Roe v Wade gave women a constitutional right to abortion. In Britain, women must seek the sanction of two doctors and a third must perform the procedure. Roe is based solely on women’s rights. No permission is needed.

In the 1970s and 1980s the Christian Right, seeing Roe v Wade not only a moral but a constitutional affront, used abortion to gain political leverage.

Although polls show that across America people are generally opposed to abortion, they do not believe that legislation should be introduced to make it illegal.

But it is an issue that galvanises a politically important constituency in a country where less than 40 per cent vote. During the 1980s and 1990s the Republican Party was beginning to wrest the South from Democrat control. The party’s conservative base was crucial to this.

By the time that George W. Bush entered the White House, the Christian Right was a powerful force within the party. One of his first acts on taking office was to stop government funding to international agencies that performed abortions. President Bush opposes abortion and has supported legislation ending “partial birth” abortion, but has backed away from opposing Roe v Wade.

Anti-abortionists are pinning their hopes on a shift in balance in the Supreme Court. At least two retirements are expected within two years, setting up a bitterly contested appointments battle if Mr Bush achieves a second term and seeks conservative replacements. That could tip the court against Roe v Wade.

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