Lauren Rankin
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Lauren Rankin
![](https://talkingpointsmemo.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/GettyImages-1241283491-scaled.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1)
Evangelical leaders only seized on abortion as its cudgel for winning elections after religious-right leaders realized it could serve a higher purpose: keeping segregation alive.
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Since 2004 the Republican Party platform opposed abortion without any delineated exceptions.