To illustrate, let us consider the case of a Christian, who is opposed to abortion for religious reasons. The doctrine of public reason holds that, even though this citizen may act on these reasons in her own personal life, she ought not to appeal to her religious beliefs in order to oppose the legal right to abortion. This is because her Christian reasons are not ones that we can reasonably expect others to endorse. Instead, if she wishes to oppose the legislation, she must offer reasons that are shared by all reasonable citizens (Rawls 1996: 243 n. 32).