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Cathryn, you are razor-sharp, but you missed it by a wide margin on this one. Here's the best example:

It seems that the mainstream religious pro-life movement is not so clear when it comes to reasons not to have an abortion beyond the basic arguments that it’s a sin and you’ll go straight to hell.

I have been a part of the pro-life movement for half my life now. In that time I have I have never once witnessed anyone using this argument to convince women to avoid abortion or to convince the electorate to vote against it, much less use it as their primary line of argument. Not one person or message; not a single ad, editorial, speaker, politician, crisis pregancy volunteer, minister, or clinic protestor. I have not even heard this stuff from the sort of clinic protestors who stand in front of clinics with immense, grotesque photos of aborted fetuses. Never mind that the "go straight to hell" part of the argument is blatantly inconsistent with the Christian doctrine that you claim binds us to this argument.

I'm afraid that you have been suckered by the distorted image of the movement portrayed by the media of the Left as a bunch of sermonizing busybodies who have no interest in logical argument. Nothing is further from the truth.

I'm sorry you disagree with me. I was raised in a strict Christian home. Both my parents, while great people, used this argument in teaching me their beliefs in abortion. I was told that if I was stupid enough to get pregnant, I'd damn well better not have an abortion, because that would send me "straight to hell." This was the case for most of the people in their church and also most of the people that were members of the local right-to-life chapter in the small town I grew up in.

I'm glad you've had a better experience than I.

Thank you for the ping, and for saying that. I've never used Hell or Purgatory or any other religious argument to back up my pro-life beliefs. I've always thought it odd that pro-lifers are labeled the "religious right" when many that I've met don't, as you say, bring that aspect up.