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Mark W. Roche, dean of the College of Arts and Letters at the University of Notre Dame, proposes we rethink the “Kennedy doctrine” regarding church and state (“Religion and politics: Revising Kennedy doctrine,” Commentary, Nov. 22). But in doing so, he fallaciously treats abortion as being analogous to birth control and Prohibition. Abortion, however, is a human rights issue, having more to do with biology than religion. In fact, it matters not a whit what any religion says about abortion. And that is why attempts to label abortion a religious issue are misguided: The whole purpose in doing so is to convince the public that this is a private matter for individuals to wrestle with, not a public issue of great moment.
