No, but I think the existence of the ‘religious right’ was a sign that religion was already in decline, in that things that were once universal moral norms, like opposition to abortion and pornography, were becoming debatable issues.
To some extent I would agree, although abortion was legal without restriction in some states pre-Roe. But even Jerry Falwell, Sr. called abortion a "Catholic issue" and said that evangelicals shouldn't put their political weight behind it. I am unsure of what made him change his attitude on that. Maybe discussions with Francis Schaeffer and likeminded individuals?
is a great book and discusses these issues in great depth.
A few things i'd say:
1. You are right that abortion liberalization definitely began pre-Roe, but not much before Roe. Hawaii was the first state to legalize abortion on request in 1970, and Colorado was the first state in 1967 to legalize it for rape, incest, and life/health of the mother. Re: Nathan, I agree that there was some support for legalized abortion pre-1970s, so perhaps I was a bit hyperbolic, but given how uniformly anti-abortion state laws were, it seems like an extremely sturdy moral consensus such that those who did it definitely perceived themselves as violating a strong societal norm, especially if we go further back. In 1963, even the very liberal Unitarian Universalist Association supported only modest abortion law liberalization for rape/incest, as a picture to show just how fast the change on these issues was.
2. Polling on the issue in the 1970s showed that while Evangelicals were slightly less pro-life than Catholics at the time, they were still significantly more anti-abortion that mainline Protestants and secular Americans. It's worth noting that
Christianity Today sharply denounced Roe v. Wade right after the decision was handed down, even if other Evangelical publications like
Baptist Press had a more muted response. So there already was plenty of fertile ground for people like Francis Schaeffer to really solidify the anti-abortion cause as an Evangelical consensus.
3. The increase of the salience of the abortion issue politically among white Evangelicals can probably also be attributed to the increase in ultrasound technology. I think it is fair to say that images of the unborn has boosted the pro-life causes across the religious spectrum, including among Evangelicals.
