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University of Richmond

Master's Theses

1996

Virginia

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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

The Silver Bullet Hypothesis : Case Studies Of Post-Webster Virginia Gubernatorial Elections, Anne M. Morgan Nov 1996

The Silver Bullet Hypothesis : Case Studies Of Post-Webster Virginia Gubernatorial Elections, Anne M. Morgan

Master's Theses

The 1989 Webster vs. Reproductive Health Services U.S. Supreme Court decision triggered a "new politics of abortion," marked by a shift in venue of the abortion political debate to the states and by invigorated mobilization of pro-choice activists alarmed about a potential erosion of abortion rights in state laws. Surfacing in the wake of the decision was a "silver bullet" theory of abortion: that unrestricted support for legal abortion guarantees a candidate's electoral victory. Case studies of two post-Webster gubernatorial elections in Virginia fail to confirm the validity of the silver bullet theory. Public opinion findings reveal that the electorate …