Why isn't it a "science issue" because the pro-choice side is based on science? Or an "age issue" because old people are far more pro-life than young people?

I'm not here to argue semantics. The point I'm here to make is that the people who call it a religious issue are trying to claim legal protection that is undeserved. "That law violates my religion!" is not a compelling argument when half of your religion supports it.

> Why isn't it a "science issue" because the pro-choice side is based on science?

What now? Has "science" become a nonsense word that only used to lend authority to nonscientific policy?

> The point I'm here to make is that the people who call it a religious issue are trying to claim legal protection that is undeserved.

That's not what's going on at all.

What's actually happening is something along the lines of "my religion says X is morally wrong, therefore I support making X illegal" (or more accurately "my religion teaches Y, which I understand makes X morally wrong, therefore I support making X illegal").

There are lots of issues where there are religious people on both sides. Take immigration for example: there are Christians who support looser immigration laws for religious reasons, and other Christians who have religious reasons to disagree. You can say that makes immigration a religious issue, if you like - I won't argue. (Not because I agree, but because arguing over semantics is boring)

Separate from that, there are issues where the religious people are pretty much all on the same side. My point is, the pro-life side frames abortion as the latter, when it is actually the former. And they do this not out of confusion or misunderstanding, but as a politically useful act. It helps their cause to frame abortion as a religious issue, because if it weren't that, it would be a medical issue or a rights issue or a privacy issue, and virtually any other framing hurts their case.

Like I said, I'm not here to argue semantics. I just thought it was worth pointing out how divided the religious are on this issue, mainly because I wasn't aware until I looked it up.