After the nomination of John Roberts to fill the Supreme Court vacancy left by Sandra Day O'Connor, politicians, political groups, and the press went hunting for where the nominee stands on hot-button issues, particularly abortion. Roberts left little paper trail in his two years as an appellate court judge, but first the Los Angeles Times, and then other papers reported that Roberts's wife, Jane Sullivan Roberts, is affiliated with the pro-life group Feminists for Life.

Roberts currently serves as legal counsel to Feminists for Life of America, and from 1995 to 1999 was executive vice president on the board of directors. Because of her affiliation with Feminists for Life, Roberts has been called "an ardent pro-life activist."

But while pro-life groups say they're on the same team as Feminists for Life, there are important differences between it and traditional anti-abortion organizations.

Feminists for Life is nonsectarian and nonpartisan, and while overturning Roe v. Wade is a goal of the organization, president Serrin Foster has said that is "not enough."

Feminists for Life goes beyond mainstream pro-life groups on issues like welfare reform that don't directly involve abortion, says Wendy Wright, senior policy director for Concerned Women for America. "They join with more modern feminists groups on other issues like violence against women and child support and some of these issues that the pro-life movement doesn't get involved in," says Cathy Cleaver Ruse, senior fellow for legal studies at the Family Research Council.

Feminists for Life is where the policy meets the pavement, Foster told Christianity Today. By addressing the forces that push women toward abortion, Feminists for Life tries to make abortion ...