The government has an inherent responsibility to protect the lives and rights of it’s citizens

That is true. The problem with abortion is that there is a true moral conflict. The rights of the mother versus the life of the fetus. This kind of moral conflict is extremely rare. A child that is already born has an independent existence. A woman who wasn’t want a child can choose to simply walk away. You can’t walk away from a pregnancy.

Therefore the woman, not the government must resolve the conflict. It’s her decision, not yours. I know how I want her to choose. I want her to bear the child to term and give it away if she doesn’t want it. I know you want that too.

That is why I argue for wide, free access to birth control. That’s why free birth control was included in Obamacare. Fewer abortions — as few as possible — is what Democrats (and me) want.

It makes me wonder why conservatives fight against birth control as hard as they do. It makes me feel like abortion is actually a secondary issue.

I have seen tons of right wing literature trying to convince people to not use condoms, claiming they don’t prevent disease, etc., all kinds of lies. They fight hard to make condoms hard for teenagers to get. They lie about IUDs and birth control pills being “the same as” abortion. Conservatives have access to all the same information as everyone else so why lie about contraception if opposition to abortion is primary? It leads me to believe that it’s not. Government control of sexual behavior is the primary goal.