Reproductive Rights Shift Religious Attitudes in Young Women

By Grace Boutcher

April 10, 2025

State College, Pa.– Michelina Gliozzi walked into the church she had attended every Sunday since childhood. Light filtered through the stained-glass windows as ushers passed collection baskets between rows of wooden pews. Her Italian American parents sat beside her, heads bowed in prayer. The familiar rhythm of the Hail Mary echoed through the halls. Everything around her was just as it had always been— except for her.

“I used to feel safe here,” she said. “Now I just feel conflicted.”

As abortion laws grow more restrictive across the United States, young women raised in religious communities are experiencing a quiet but profound reckoning. The clash between personal beliefs and institutional teachings on reproductive rights is prompting many to reassess their faith, their identity and the role of organized religion in their lives.

For some, like Gliozzi, it’s a slow, painful drift. For others, the separation has already happened.

“Don’t get me wrong, I still believe in the presence of God,” said Gliozzi. “I just don’t know if I believe in a church that doesn’t believe in me.”

In 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, ending federal protection for abortion and handing the issue back to the states. Since then, more than a dozen states have passed near-total abortion bans or heavily restricted access, reigniting fierce national debates around reproductive freedom.

While many major religious institutions—especially conservative Christian denominations and the Catholic Church—have long held strict anti-abortion positions, public opinion among young Americans tells a different story.

According to the Pew Research Center, 68% of Americans ages 18 to 29 support legal abortion in all or most cases. Among young women, that number rises to 71%. Even within religious groups, support among younger members often diverges from the past. For example, 59% of Catholics overall say abortion should be legal in most cases, despite official church stances which teach the contrary.

“Religion and morality aren’t the same thing,” said Lena Carolla, a 22-year-old Penn State student. Carolla was raised atheist after her parents left the Catholic Church years ago.

“My parents didn’t feel like their values—respect for women, for LGBTQ+ people, for bodily autonomy—aligned with what their church was saying.”

Carolla, who grew up attending protests and advocating for reproductive justice alongside her mother, described how the separation between Church and State has become narrower in recent years.

“Why should certain religious groups have a say over what I can do with my body?” said Carolla. “I don’t share their beliefs, so I shouldn’t have to live by them.”

Among Gen Z adults who have left their childhood religion, 54% are women. It's a significant shift from past generations when men were more likely to disaffiliate.

Still, not every young woman facing these questions is walking away entirely. For some, the journey looks more like redefinition than rejection.

Madi Goldberg, 22, was raised in a Reform Jewish household and said her religious experience offered a different lens on the issue.

Goldberg noted that after seeing how the Catholic Church treated both the pro-choice and LGBTQ+ communities, she was glad to be raised in a Jewish household where there’s, “room for nuance, for individual choice. That doesn’t mean every Jewish person supports abortion, but there isn’t this blanket condemnation.”

Goldberg said her faith encourages questioning, and that makes it easier to hold space for difficult conversations.

“I’ve never felt like I had to choose between being a feminist, being open about my sexuality and being religious,” she said. “But I know that’s not true for everyone.”

That contrast is part of what keeps Gliozzi conflicted. Although she still attends Mass occasionally with her family, she no longer feels at home there.

“I was always raised to be a proud Catholic,” she said. “It was just what I knew my whole life. But I can’t be part of an institution that supports policies that shame women for making the best choices for their bodies and their futures.”

For Gliozzi and many of her peers, the conflict is deeply personal. It's not just about laws or ideology—it’s about identity, belonging, and trust.

“When your church tells you that your body isn’t your own, it’s hurtful,” she said. “It feels like betrayal.”

Some women choose to stay and advocate for reform from within. Others find new communities or develop their own spiritual practices outside traditional religious spaces. Regardless of the path, the trend is clear: the intersection of faith and women’s rights is shaping this generation’s relationship with religion.

“I may not find God in the same place anymore, but I still find it in the way I live, the choices I make, and the love I give,” said Gliozzi. “My faith is bigger than any church—it’s about the love I carry with me, even when the world feels broken.”

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