Why can't republicans acknowledge the fact that they've lost on abortion?

[pbrower2a]

Why won't they move past the issue? It won't win them any supporters.

Many believe in a vindictive God Who treats any offense to His Authority with eternal damnation. To avoid such damnation people must suffer greatly in This World so that they can avoid ending up in Hell for sins. To them, abortion is murder. (As a side, evolution is either blasphemy or heresy deserving an eternal stay among the worst of all souls). 

The link between belief in a God Who acts more like a gangster or a fascist tyrant than like a good and decent person  and right-wing politics should be obvious. Hard Right politics has submission to authorities beyond question as a cornerstone. Take away the fear, and the whole basis for Hard Right politics disintegrates.

[pbrower2a]

Many Republicans still believe in the certainty of he New Serfdom that will guide Americans to salvation through righteous suffering in obedience to God and the Master Class in a grim, dreary, joyless world. In such a world, sex is only for reproduction.

[pbrower2a]

because it is one of those visceral issues that bring out the one-issue voters. See also "gun control".

Abortion rates and economic distress go hand-in-hand, so the most practical way in which to reduce abortion is to have a stronger economy. Gun control? Democrats like Carter, Clinton, and Obama didn't do it. (It's ironic that the George W. Bush administration forced gun control upon Iraq... )