Morality Policy in Catholic Austria: The Regulation of Abortion and Same-sex Unions
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15203/ozp.193.vol43iss3Keywords:
morality policy, policy speed, Catholic Church, abortion, same-sex partnership, same-sex union, AustriaAbstract
The examination of the level of permissiveness in the two morality policy fields abortion and same-sex partnerships across Western European countries from 1960 to 2010 reveals that Catholic states do not significantly differ from their Protestant counterparts in terms of their policy outputs today. But Catholicism can slow down the pace of reforms. Through a detailed, explorative investigation of the reforms in Austria, which was quick to install a more permissive abortion regime but a laggard in introducing legal recognition of same-sex couples, we derive first theoretical implications using an inductive approach. The Austrian case reveals that the influence of the Catholic Church may impede reforms as long as institutional and cultural opportunity structures do not promote secular-permissive efforts to politicize the issue and build consensus for policy change.
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