Responding to the passage of the Alabama anti-abortion law, Democratic presidential candidate Kirsten Gillibrand made a religious freedom argument.

“One of the tenets of our democracy is that we have a separation of church and state, and under no circumstances are we supposed to be imposing our faith on other people,” she said. “And I think this is an example of that effort.”

There may be many problems with the Alabama law banning abortion but violating separation of church and state is not one of them

The First Amendment does not prohibit lawmakers, or citizens, from having religious motivations to their public policy positions. For instance, it would make no sense to have said to progressives you’re only allowed to oppose the Iraq war if you have practical reasons, not if you have moral/religious reasons.

In fact, most of the most effective progressive movements in American history have been religiously motivated — abolitionism, women’s suffrage, the 20th century civil rights movement.

Whether it’s wise to make religious arguments for secular laws is a different matter. In this case, I think it’s not, at least if you’re trying to persuade people. The use of religious language or reasoning to promote a secular law can be effective if it taps into unifying elements of faith. The Civil Rights movement was effective because it encouraged whites to view the cause as a fulfillment of their Christian impulses.

In this case, the use of religious language probably has the effect of narrowing the support. It makes people feel that the law is not only driven by a broad religious motivation but also guided by specific — and contested — religious interpretations of when life begins. If I’m Jewish or Muslim — two groups that do not tend to believe life begins at conception — it sounds like the law is based on a Catholic teaching about when life begins. That might make me less likely to support it than more.

It also probably increases the case that women and doctors should be allowed religious exemptions. That’s the subject of another post.