Catholic Senators and Abortion Politics: The Cases of Joe Biden and Ted Kennedy

This chapter examines the post-1980 realignment of Catholic Democratic senators on abortion through the case studies of Edward Kennedy and Joseph Biden. Drawing on their contrasting backgrounds and political trajectories, it argues that both senators shifted from pro-life to pro-choice positions in response to evolving partisan pressures, particularly the Democratic Party’s embrace of abortion rights in 1980. While Kennedy’s transformation was shaped by presidential ambition and a health care-centered policy vision, Biden’s shift reflected a slower, pragmatic adaptation rooted in his working-class Catholic identity. The chapter situates these developments within broader institutional and ideological changes, highlighting how partisan alignment increasingly eclipsed religious conviction in shaping legislative behavior on abortion.

In Religion and Congress: the intersection of faith and politics, edited by David A. Dulio and Colton C. Campbell