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I’m intrigued by one of the ways that Conor Lamb appealed to cultural conservatives in his Pennsylvania congressional campaign. He said that, as a Catholic, he is personally opposed to abortion but that he does not favor new anti-abortion laws.

This position still makes him pro-choice, of course, even if he rejects the label. It won’t win over committed abortion opponents (like National Review’s Alexandra DeSanctis, who criticized Lamb as a hypocrite).

Yet I still find Lamb’s framing to be important. Personal opposition to abortion isn’t just a catchphrase. It has real implications. People who are opposed to abortion — as well as those who have deep qualms about it — are unlikely to have fetuses tested for conditions like Down syndrome, to take one example. They’re more likely to believe that babies with the syndrome have as much right to life as those without it.