Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

Source: The Conversation – USA – By Robert A. Strong, Senior Fellow, Miller Center, University of Virginia

People trying to understand politics in the United States today often turn to history for precedents and perspective. Are our current divisions like the ones that preceded the American Revolution or the Civil War? Did the dramatic events of the 1960s generate the same kind of social and political forces seen today? Are there lessons from the past that show us how eras of intense political turmoil eventually subside?

As a scholar of American politics and the presidency, I believe one American historical period is especially worth revisiting in this turbulent moment in the U.S.: the 20 tumultuous years between the presidencies of Ulysses S. Grant and William McKinley in the second half of the 19th century.

The two decades between 1876 and 1896 are usually remembered as a time when the cities in the East grew rich and the West was wild – a “Gilded Age” in New York City and gunslingers on the frontier.

It was also a time when Americans struggled with immigration issues, racial injustice, tariff levels, technological change, economic volatility and political violence.

There was even a president, Grover Cleveland, who served two nonconsecutive terms in the White House – the only time that happened before Donald Trump.

In the elections between Grant and McKinley, the nation was closely divided. No president in those years – not Rutherford Hayes, James Garfield, Chester Arthur, Cleveland or Benjamin Harrison – served for two consecutive terms. No presidential candidate won more than 50% of the popular vote, except the Democrat Samuel Tilden. And Tilden, after winning 50.1% of the ballots cast in 1876, lost in the Electoral College. That happened again in 1888 when Cleveland, the first time he was seeking a second term, won the popular vote but failed in the Electoral College.

The narrow victories that characterized presidential politics in the 1870s and 1880s were matched by constant shifts on Capitol Hill. In the 20 years between Grant and McKinley, there were only six years of unified government, when one political party controlled the White House, the Senate and the House of Representatives. In the remaining 14 years, presidents encountered opposition in Congress.

The U.S. has the same kind of divided politics today.

Heating up partisanship and raising stakes

President Bill Clinton had two years of unified government; President George W. Bush had less than that. Barack Obama, Donald Trump in his first term and Joe Biden all came into office with party majorities in the House and Senate, and then, like Clinton, their parties lost the House two years later.

Divided politics, with close elections and neither party in power for very long, make partisanship more intense, campaigns harder fought and the stakes sky high whenever voters go to the polls. That’s part of what produced instability in the second half of the 19th century and part of what produces it today.

Divided government is, of course, one of the most powerful “checks” in the constitutional system of checks and balances. Intense competition between political parties can prevent the national government from making rash decisions and serious mistakes. It can sometimes generate compromise.

But there’s a cost. Political division can also allow critical problems to fester for far too long. The dramatic changes brought on by the Industrial Revolution after the Civil War were not seriously addressed in federal legislation until the Progressive Era early in the 20th century.

In the second half of the 19th century, Congress raised or lowered tariffs – depending on which party controlled the White House and Capitol Hill. The nation debated immigration but only once passed meaningful legislation, the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. A long list of issues connected to railroads, banks, currency, civil service, corruption and the implementation of the post-Civil War constitutional amendments were ignored or only partially addressed.

When major legislation was passed in 1883 to create a merit-based civil service – reforming the spoils system of political appointments – it passed because Garfield’s 1881 assassination by a disgruntled federal job seeker temporarily pushed the issue to the top of the national agenda.

Immigration, fake news and riots

Political violence accompanied the period of closely divided national elections in the 1870s and 1880s.

In the 1880 presidential campaign, both candidates – the Republican, Garfield, and the Democrat, Winfield Hancock – called for restrictions on Chinese immigration to the United States. Neither supported the complete ban that many Westerners wanted.

But just before Americans went to the polls, newspapers across the country printed a letter, allegedly written and signed by Garfield, that endorsed an open border to Chinese immigrants. Before anyone could learn that the letter was a fake, there was public uproar. In Denver, an angry mob burned down all the homes in Chinese neighborhoods.

There were more incidents of political violence: anti-Chinese riots in Los Angeles in 1871, in San Francisco in 1877 and in Seattle in 1886.

Throughout the 1880s, anti-immigrant nativists targeted immigrants from Italy and sometimes vandalized Catholic churches.

Political violence in the South successfully suppressed Black voting rights and reestablished white control of state and local politics.

Realignment

Political division in the second half of the 19th century produced more problems than solutions. How and when did it end, or become less intense?

The simple answer is what political scientists call a “realignment,” a major shift in national electoral patterns.

In 1893, the first year of Cleveland’s second term, the nation suffered a financial crisis followed by a severe economic depression. As a result, McKinley was able to win solid victories in 1896 and 1900 and build a Republican coalition that dominated presidential politics until the election in 1932 of Democrat Franklin Roosevelt.

It’s not hard to imagine how an economic disaster, or a crisis of some kind, could shake the country out of a period of closely divided politics. But that’s a painful way of building a higher level of national unity.

Can it happen when large numbers of voters get thoroughly frustrated by languishing issues, swings back and forth in Washington, nasty elections and rising political violence?

Perhaps.

But either way – responding to crisis or finding a public change of heart – is a reminder that voters are the ultimate arbiters in a functioning democracy. Today, as in late-19th-century America, elections make a difference. They can mark continued division or they can take the nation in a new, and perhaps more unified, direction.

Robert A. Strong does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. What America’s divided and tumultuous politics of the late-19th century can teach us – https://theconversation.com/what-americas-divided-and-tumultuous-politics-of-the-late-19th-century-can-teach-us-267292

Source: The Conversation – USA (2) – By Gabriel Guillén, Professor of Language Studies, Middlebury College

Your host in Osaka, Japan, slips on a pair of headphones and suddenly hears your words transformed into flawless Kansai Japanese. Even better, their reply in their native tongue comes through perfectly clear to you.

Thanks to artificial intelligence, neither of you is lost in translation. What once seemed like science fiction is now marketed as a quick fix for cross-cultural communication.

Such AI-powered tools will be useful for many people, especially for tourists or in any purely transactional situation, even if seamless automatic interpretation remains at an experimental stage.

Does this mean the process of learning another language will soon be a thing of the past?

As scholars of computer-assisted language learning and linguistics, we disagree and see language learning as vital in other ways. We have devoted our careers to this field because we deeply believe in the lasting and transformative value of learning and speaking languages beyond one’s mother tongue.

Lessons from past language ‘disruptions’

This isn’t the first time a new technology has promised massive disruption to learning languages.

In recent years, language learning startups such as Duolingo aimed to make acquiring a language easier than ever, in part by gamifying language. While these apps have certainly made learning more accessible to more people, our research shows most platforms and apps have failed to fully replicate the inherently social process of learning a language.

One thing’s clear: The massive popularity of language apps shows there’s still strong demand for language learning, despite a sharp decline in formal education settings. Duolingo alone had 113.1 million monthly active users around the world at the end of 2024, a 36% increase over the prior year. This is about 10 times more than the number of students who take languages other than English in U.S. schools.

The meaning of learning a language

Numbers aside, the gold standard of language learning is the ability to follow and contribute to a live group conversation.

Since World War II, government departments and education programs recognized that text-centered grammar-translation methods did little to support real interaction. Interpersonal conversational competence gradually became the main goal of language classes. While technologies you can put in your ear or wear on your face now promise to revolutionize interpersonal interaction, their usefulness in such conversations actually falls along a spectrum.

At one end, you have simple tasks you have to navigate while visiting a city where they speak a different language, like checking out of a hotel, buying a ticket at a kiosk or finding your way around town. That is, people from different backgrounds working together to achieve a goal – a successful checkout, a ticket purchase or getting to the famous museum you want to visit. Any mix of languages, gestures or tools – even AI tools – can help in this context. In such cases, where the goal is clear and both parties are patient, shared English or automated interpretation can get the job done while bypassing the hard work of language learning.

At the other end, identity matters as much as content. Meeting your in-laws, introducing yourself at work, welcoming a delegation or presenting to a skeptical audience all involve trust and social capital. Humor, idioms, levels of formality, tone, timing and body language shape not just what you say but who you are.

The effort of learning a language communicates respect, trust and a willingness to see the world through someone else’s eyes. We believe language learning is one of the most demanding and rewarding forms of deep work, building cognitive resilience, empathy, identity and community in ways technology struggles to replicate.

The 2003 movie “Lost in Translation,” which depicts an older American man falling in love with a much younger American woman, was not about getting lost in the language but delved into issues of interculturality and finding yourself while exposed to the other.

Indeed, accelerating mobility due to climate migration, remote work and retirement abroad all increase the need to learn languages – not just translate them. Even those staying in place often seek deeper connections through language as learners with familial and historical ties.

Where AI falls short

The latest AI technologies, such as those used by Apple’s newest AirPods to instantly interpret and translate, certainly are powerful tools that will help a lot of people interact with anyone who speaks a different language in ways previously only possible for someone who spent a year or two studying it. It’s like having your own personal interpreter.

Yet relying on interpretation carries hidden costs: distortion of meaning, loss of interactive nuance and diminished interpersonal trust.

An ethnography of American learners with strong motivation and near limitless support found that falling back on speaking English and using technology to aid translation may be easier in the short term, but this undercuts long-term language and integration goals. Language learners constantly face this choice between short-term ease and long-term impact.

Some AI tools help accomplish immediate tasks, and generative AI apps can support acquisition but can take away the negotiations of meaning from which durable skills emerge.

AI interpretation may suffice for one-on-one conversations, but learners usually aspire to join ongoing conversations already being had among speakers of another language. Long-term language learning, while necessarily friction-filled, is nevertheless beneficial on many fronts.

Interpersonally, using another’s language fosters both cultural and cognitive empathy.

In addition, the cognitive benefits of multilingualism are equally well documented: resistance to dementia, divergent thinking, flexibility in shifting attention, acceptance of multiple perspectives and explanations, and reduced bias in reasoning.

The very attributes companies seek in the AI age – resilience, lifelong learning, analytical and creative thinking, active listening – are all cultivated through language learning.

Rethinking language education in the age of AI

So why, in the increasingly multilingual U.K. and U.S., are fewer students choosing to learn another language in high school and at university?

The reasons are complex.

Too often, institutions have struggled to demonstrate the relevance of language studies. Yet innovative approaches abound, from integrating language in the contexts of other subjects and linking it to service and volunteering to connecting students with others through virtual exchanges or community partners via project-based language learning, all while developing intercultural skills.

So, again, what’s the value of learning another language when AI can handle tourism phrases, casual conversation and city navigation?

The answer, in our view, lies not in fleeting encounters but in cultivating enduring capacities: curiosity, empathy, deeper understanding of others, the reshaping of identity and the promise of lasting cognitive growth.

For educators, the call is clear. Generative AI can take on rote and transactional tasks while excelling at error correction, adapting input and vocabulary support. That frees classroom time for multiparty, culturally rich and nuanced conversation.

Teaching approaches grounded in interculturality, embodied communication, play and relationship building will thrive. Learning this way enables learners to critically evaluate what AI earbuds or chatbots create, to join authentic conversations and to experience the full benefits of long-term language learning.

Thor Sawin has received funding for teacher development projects through the State Department Fulbright Specialist and English Language Specialist program, as well as the US Air Force and LCC International University in Lithuania.

Gabriel Guillén does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. What AI earbuds can’t replace: The value of learning another language – https://theconversation.com/what-ai-earbuds-cant-replace-the-value-of-learning-another-language-264965

Source: The Conversation – USA (2) – By Suvrat Dhanorkar, Associate Professor, Georgia Institute of Technology

Imagine walking out of a Walmart, Target or Costco. As you push your large shopping cart to your car, you ask yourself: Did I really need all that stuff?

The answer is you probably didn’t.

In a recent study, my co-authors Lina Wang, Sungho Park and I found that the presence of supercenters – large retailers that sell groceries alongside general merchandise – results in a significant uptick in consumer waste due to overpurchasing.

These supercenters often sit on lots in excess of 150,000 square feet. But figuring out how all that real estate affects people’s shopping habits – if it does at all – is tricky. That’s because a lot of factors influence how much people buy on a single shopping trip.

To answer this question, we looked at the impact of the spread of Walmart supercenters across the U.S. over a decade, using a technique called difference-in-differences – an analytical method in which we compared consumer waste trends in counties that saw supercenter launches with “matched” counties that did not. This matching ensured that counties were otherwise closely comparable on socioeconomic factors such as housing, income and education.

Our analysis showed that the launch of a supercenter results in an increase in consumer waste of up to 7%. Furthermore, this increase in consumer waste is larger for new supercenter openings compared with conversions, when existing regular stores are expanded into large-format ones.

Why it matters

For decades, neighborhood stores across the U.S. were edged out by large-format retailers: department stores, supercenters and shopping malls. Although there is evidence that many of these big-name retailers are beginning to look toward smaller stores, the shopping landscape remains dotted by supercenters.

And these large stores stimulate mass consumption through gradual shifts in consumer behaviors. For example, in their attempt to generate more sales, large-format retailers often underprice smaller neighborhood stores.

Take, for example, Walmart’s “everyday low price” strategy, which is key to its business model. This pricing strategy offers shoppers a largely consistent year-round low price rather than relying on occasional sales and discounts.

Further contributing to overpurchasing is the supercenters’ typical location, which tends to be away from residential areas. Naturally, in their effort to avoid multiple trips, consumers tend to maximize the utility of each visit by making their basket sizes larger.

Unfortunately, this overpurchasing often leads to waste as more goods reach expiration date or sit unused in people’s homes.

While this may be a profitable strategy for retailers, it’s bad for society and the environment and creates billions of dollars in waste. To put this into context, the United States generates close to 300 million tons of consumer waste every year, and then spends billions of dollars managing this waste.

What still isn’t known

Now that we have measured the “supercenter effect,” we are keen to look at potential solutions to this problem. Some existing solutions are based on implementing policies that encourage behavioral shifts in consumers. For example, many cities have adopted a pay-as-you-throw policy that charges people based on the volume of waste generated.

Other solutions are more structural, such as bringing back neighborhood convenience stores and developing stronger circular economy channels. For example, neighborhood convenience stores can play an important role in mitigating the supercenter effect and could allow for smaller, more frequent shopping trips and significantly less waste.

In many cities, initiatives promoting local vendors and stores are gaining momentum. Such solutions would not only encourage sustainable consumption but also have benefits for local economic growth by promoting small businesses that have historically accounted for 62% of net new job creation.

A second solution entails leveraging the “reuse economy,” which can provide a back-end channel for circulating surplus and used goods. While both offline and online reuse channels exist – through the likes of thrift stores, food banks and Facebook Marketplace, for example – they currently remain vastly underused.

Identifying and aggressively implementing such solutions might turn out to be both economically meaningful and environmentally beneficial. But more work needs to be done to figure out which solutions are more effective, and why.

The Research Brief is a short take on interesting academic work.

Suvrat Dhanorkar does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. The ‘supercenter’ effect: How massive, one-stop retailers fuel overconsumption − and waste – https://theconversation.com/the-supercenter-effect-how-massive-one-stop-retailers-fuel-overconsumption-and-waste-267939

Source: The Conversation – USA (2) – By Jared Bahir Browsh, Assistant Teaching Professor of Critical Sports Studies, University of Colorado Boulder

It’s unusual for a professional sports franchise to plan a yearlong celebration for a team that didn’t win a championship.

But it is also rare that a group of players represents the vibe and culture of a city so accurately as the Philadelphia 76ers did back in 2001.

Throughout the 2025-2026 NBA season, the Sixers will honor the 25th anniversary of their legendary 2001 team. The celebration kicks off with the return of Hip-Hop, the muscle-bound rabbit mascot who debuted in 1998 and represented the team for 13 years. Throughout the year the team will wear jerseys and feature court designs from the 2001 season, and it will honor the team and its star player, Allen “The Answer” Iverson, during a reunion game on Jan. 31, 2026.

As a pop culture scholar and director of a program in critical sports studies, I regularly teach about the influence of Iverson, whom I was a big fan of during my elementary school, high school and college years in Philadelphia. I even named my pet guinea pig after the Hall of Fame player.

A new era

The City of Brotherly Love is known for its passionate sports fans. Although this passion has been interpreted by some as aggressive, if not barbaric, Philadelphians’ knowledge of and loyalty to their teams has never waned – even as they endured a 25-year championship drought across their four major professional teams.

Before the Philadelphia Phillies won the World Series in 2008, Philadelphia hadn’t had a championship sports team since 1983. In that year, the Sixers disrupted the dominance of the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers, who won every other championship from 1980 to 1988.

The Sixers remained competitive for a few more years before Moses Malone was traded in 1986 and Julius Erving – “Dr. J” – retired in 1987. In the decade that followed, a contentious relationship developed between fans and Sixers owner Harold Katz. It intensified when Katz traded fan favorite Charles Barkley in 1992.

In 1996, Comcast Spectacor, owner of the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers, bought the Sixers from Katz and ushered in a new era for the franchise. The team moved to a new arena and hired their former trainer Pat Croce, who had a minority stake in the team, as team president.

That same year, the Sixers won the draft lottery for the first pick of the NBA draft, earning the rights to draft a 6-foot guard from Georgetown University. Iverson not only altered the fortunes of the franchise but became a cultural phenomenon while representing a city known for being brash and gritty.

Policing Black athletes

Black athletes, in particular, are often expected to engage in respectability politics – a strategy in which marginalized people are expected to abandon parts of their own culture to assimilate to the dominant, often white, culture’s expectations. Mostly white team owners and fans want them to act a certain way or avoid speaking out on societal issues such as race.

One of the earliest, and most visible, challenges to this in sports was Jack Johnson, a Black heavyweight boxing champion in 1908 who refused to adhere to social and economic expectations of African Americans in the early 20th century. Johnson taunted his opponents in the ring and flouted his wealth outside of it. Most controversially, he had romantic relationships with white women.

Later, boxing legend Muhammad Ali and Boston Celtics center Bill Russell also faced criticism for speaking out on civil rights issues.

Like Johnson, Ali and Russell were targeted by federal law enforcement. Ali was suspended from boxing for three years for his refusal to join the military and fight in the Vietnam War. Both Ali and Russell were also tracked by the FBI, and Russell found his house in the Boston area vandalized, though no one was charged.

Iverson, meanwhile, was targeted by the criminal justice system before he even reached the NBA. When he was in high school, he was a top college recruit in both basketball and football even as he navigated poverty and instability.

On Feb. 14, 1993, Iverson was at a bowling alley in his hometown of Hampton, Virginia, when a fight broke out. He and three friends were identified by witnesses, despite questionable evidence that they were involved in the altercation. Iverson was charged with “maiming by mob” – a crime that originally targeted lynching in Virginia. He was found guilty and sentenced to 15 years in prison.

After public outcry and a high profile interview with Tom Brokaw, Iverson was granted clemency and offered the opportunity to play for coach John Thompson at Georgetown University.

AI’s authenticity and style

In the late 1970s some fans and commentators complained the NBA was becoming “too Black,” so in the 1980s the league took a color-blind approach to marketing players such as Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson. Race took a back seat to money, as players of that era largely avoided discussing Black culture.

Once drafted into the NBA, Iverson conveyed an authenticity rarely seen in modern sports, where agents and public relation professionals manage their clients’ image and ensure they say the right things to the media.

He had visible tattoos and began wearing his hair in cornrows in his rookie year. He also embraced rap music and hip-hop culture and style.

His fearless play on the court reinforced this image. He had relentless energy, took challenging shots and put his body on the line.

In Philadelphia, sports fans also appreciated his loyalty to friends and family along with his willingness to speak his mind.

Much like its star player, the Sixers franchise also embraced hip-hop culture, represented in its new rabbit mascot in 1998. Although basketball has had a connection with hip-hop since the 1970s, the NBA’s corporate sponsors were uneasy about this relationship. The Sixers’ decision to lean into this culture was notable.

There was concern, particularly from league commissioner David Stern, that Iverson’s and the Sixers’ embrace of hip-hop culture would alienate certain stakeholders. Stern clashed with Iverson and implemented a league-wide dress code that barred T-shirts, shorts, chain necklaces, sunglasses and even headphones in public appearances. The ban seemed to target the NBA’s young Black players.

Nevertheless, the Sixers attracted new fans and built their team around Iverson’s unique offensive skills, surrounding him with unselfish, defense-focused teammates. They hired Larry Brown as head coach and acquired Philadelphia native and Temple graduate Aaron McKie, who became one of Iverson’s closest teammates.

The 2001 Finals

The Sixers started the 2000-2001 season with a 10-game winning streak and later, after a win against the New York Knicks on Feb. 1, 2001, had a 35-11 record. In a loss on Feb. 7 to the Houston Rockets, center Theo Ratliff injured his wrist and had to undergo season-ending surgery. Over the next two weeks the team won six straight games and Iverson was named the MVP of the 2001 NBA All-Star Game.

Recognizing the need for a big man, however, the Sixers traded four players for top defender and future Hall-of-Fame center Dikembe Mutombo.

As the team adjusted to its roster changes, they stumbled to a 15-11 record in the last 26 games of the regular season, but were still able to earn the top seed in the Eastern Conference. The playoffs consumed the city with Sixers fever.

Despite its top seed, the team consistently felt like an underdog, reflecting the overall reputation of Philadelphia. Each series was a fight, and the Sixers had to play 18 out of the possible 19 games on their way to the NBA Finals against the Lakers. They escaped elimination games twice.

Game 1 of the Finals was the defining game of the season. The Sixers battled to an overtime upset, a game known for the “step-over” after Iverson hit a shot and then took an exaggerated step over the Lakers’ Tyronn Lue, who had fallen down while trying to defend the Sixers guard.

The team lost the next two highly competitive games before injuries and the Lakers’ talent proved too difficult to overcome.

A Philly legend

The Sixers have not returned to the Finals since 2001, while both the Phillies and Eagles have since won the World Series and Super Bowl on behalf of the city.

Although Iverson never brought home a championship, and he continued to be polarizing – marked by moments such as his infamous “practice” rant – he still ranks as one of the most popular Philadelphia athletes of all time.

Sixers fans like myself are excited for the opportunity to look back at this team that brought the city together at the start of the new millennium. It’s also a chance to celebrate the future of a team led by an exciting group of guards – Tyrese Maxey, V.J. Edgecombe and Jared McCain – who look to recapture the city and revitalize the legacy of Iverson and the 2001 Sixers.

Read more of our stories about Philadelphia and Pennsylvania, or sign up for our Philadelphia newsletter on Substack.

Jared Bahir Browsh does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Allen Iverson’s 2001 Sixers embodied Philly’s brash, gritty soul − and changed basketball culture forever – https://theconversation.com/allen-iversons-2001-sixers-embodied-phillys-brash-gritty-soul-and-changed-basketball-culture-forever-268170

Source: The Conversation – USA (3) – By Anne Whitesell, Associate Professor of Political Science, Miami University

As the first American pope, Leo XIV has largely avoided speaking out about domestic politics in the United States.

He waded into controversy, however, by commenting on the Archdiocese of Chicago’s plan to honor U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, who has represented Illinois since 1997, with a lifetime achievement award for his work on immigration issues. Some Catholic critics were opposed to Durbin, who has supported the right to a legal abortion, receiving such an award – and he ultimately declined it.

On Sept. 30, 2025, when reporters in Italy asked about the situation, Leo said, “It’s important to look at many issues that are related to the teachings of the church.”

“Someone who says I’m against abortion but is in favor of the death penalty is not really pro-life,” he said. “And someone who says I’m against abortion but I’m in agreement with the inhuman treatment of immigrants in the United States, I don’t know if that’s pro-life.”

In American politics, being “pro-life” is often equated with being opposed to abortion. But as Leo’s comments highlight, it’s not so simple.

In my research into the modern pro-life movement, I have found great variety in how different people and organizations use the term, what issues they campaign for, and how religious convictions drive their work.

Public opinion

If being pro-life means caring about immigrants’ rights and opposing abortion, a minority of Americans appear to subscribe to the pope’s vision.

On Oct. 22, 2025, PRRI – a think tank that researches the intersection of religion, culture and politics – released results from a survey asking respondents about immigration and abortion. The survey was conducted online in August and September.

Among all respondents, 61% say that immigrants, regardless of legal status, should have basic rights and protections, including the ability to challenge deportation in court. Sixty-five percent oppose deporting undocumented immigrants without due process to prisons in other countries.

Support for immigrants’ rights is less common, however, among people who oppose the right to an abortion.

Overall, 36% of respondents believe abortion should be illegal in all or most cases, while 61% believe the procedure should be legal in all or most cases.

Among people who believe abortion should be illegal, only 40% say immigrants should have basic rights, compared to 75% of respondents who believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases.

When asked whether the government “should detain immigrants who are in the country illegally in internment camps until they can be deported,” only 37% of Americans agree. Among those who oppose legalized abortion, however, that percentage increased to 57%. Among Americans who support legalized abortion, only 27% support detention.

Looking at responses from U.S. Catholics, there are clear patterns based on race and ethnicity.

Forty-two percent of white Catholics believe abortion should be illegal in all or most circumstances, compared to 35% of Hispanic Catholics.

Forty-seven percent of white Catholics, meanwhile, disagree with immigrant detention. Among Hispanic Catholics, that percentage rises to 76%. Similarly, 50% of white Catholics believe immigrants should have basic rights, compared to 76% of Hispanic Catholics.

‘Pro-life’ label

Leo’s comments and public opinion data demonstrate the challenge of defining what it means to identify as pro-life.

In my interviews with pro-life activists and research into their advocacy, I have also observed wide variation within the movement.

Organizations are strategic in choosing the pro-life issues they work on.

Some groups that use that label advocate against abortion and do not see it in their mission to go beyond that. One advocate I interviewed said, “We want to be single-issue. … We want to have a large coalition, and being single-issue is how we do that.”

This advocate works for a secular, national organization that opposes abortion because it ends the life of a human organism. She acknowledged that it can be difficult to decide where to draw the line: “How connected does something have to be to abortion for it to count?” This question arises when the group chooses whether to take a position on policies such as expanding funding for adoption services.

Other groups that identify as pro-life are ideologically conservative and often take on other culture war issues. The Center for Christian Virtue, for example, advocates against abortion but also is in favor of school choice and increased funding for “responsible fatherhood initiatives,” such as parenting classes and mentorship programs.

Still other groups focus on both beginning-of-life and end-of-life issues. These organizations are inspired by religious beliefs that life is a gift from God and should be protected from conception until natural death. In addition to abortion, these organizations oppose the use of embryos and fetal stem cells in scientific research and often oppose in vitro fertilization. They also advocate against legalizing euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide.

A fourth type of group has a more expansive definition of pro-life, closely aligned with Leo’s comments. These groups, whose mission statements are often secular, sometimes refer to themselves as protecting life “womb to tomb,” or “pro-life for the whole life.” Groups such as Democrats for Life of America and New Wave Feminists incorporate issues such as economic inequality, systemic discrimination and support for migrants into their advocacy.

Organizations with this type of holistic approach may also describe themselves as following a “consistent life ethic.” Popularized by Cardinal Joseph Bernardin in the 1980s, the term stems from Catholic social teaching but is also used by secular groups. This approach emphasizes human dignity and supporting policies that affirm life at all stages. That may include opposition to the death penalty and support for social programs, such as food and housing assistance.

Role of religion

From my research, I have not found a clear relationship between the policies a group advocates on behalf of and its religious affiliation.

Many explicitly call themselves Catholic or Christian. Their mission statements may mention religion. Their publications may include Bible quotes or prayers. They sponsor events in collaboration with churches.

For example, the American Life League identifies itself as “the oldest grassroots Catholic pro-life education organization in the United States.” Students for Life of America calls its statement of faith “Judeo-Christian,” even though roughly 8 in 10 American Jews support legal abortion.

Even in groups that do not describe themselves as religious, though, some leaders and members say they are drawn to the cause because of their faith. An advocate from one such group described many of the members as “Pope Francis Catholics,” indicating a more progressive view on many social issues.

Another advocate I spoke with described herself as a devout Catholic but recognized that the anti-abortion movement is often “bashed for being religious.” To break away from that stereotype, she said, “That’s why we’re kind of relying on the science. And when I send emails, I never bring in Scripture, and I think people think I might be just agnostic or whatever.”

Other secular groups tie their pro-life advocacy to a broader fight for human rights. Rehumanize International, to name one, says its mission is to “ensure that each and every human being’s life is respected, valued, and protected.” Such groups may hold progressive views such as opposing war and the death penalty, as well as concern about climate change. Political science research indicates that positioning opposition to abortion as a human rights issue, rather than a religious one, may attract more younger Americans.

It would be a mistake to assume that everyone in these movements adheres to one viewpoint, or is interested only in stopping abortion. In reality, there are many motivations that lead to people using the phrase “pro-life.”

Anne Whitesell is a 2025-2026 PRRI Public Fellow.

– ref. What does ‘pro-life’ mean? There’s no one answer – even for advocacy groups that oppose abortion – https://theconversation.com/what-does-pro-life-mean-theres-no-one-answer-even-for-advocacy-groups-that-oppose-abortion-268066