Posted by
Jason Cunningham on Thursday, July 26, 2007 7:29:09 PM
So the Democrats are taking a new tack on the abortion issue: They still want to be Planned Parenthood’s sugar daddy, but they’d like them to offer some token counseling before doing the deed.
The lead to today’s L.A. Times story about the Dems’ “big change” says it all: “Sensing an opportunity to impress religious voters – and tip elections – Democrats in Congress and on the campaign trail have begun to adopt some of the language and policy goals of the antiabortion movement.”
This is nothing more than unadulterated political pandering. As the article notes, Liberals’ promotion of “more accessible and affordable birth control as well as detailed sex education in public schools” still forms the foundation of Democratic policies on the issue; the only difference is that now Democrats are supporting a few programs “to encourage women who do conceive to carry to term” in order to show that “‘pro-choice’ doesn’t mean ‘pro-abortion.’” Times reporter Stephanie Simon calls this “a striking shift.” Well, I suppose it’s striking in the sense that Liberals have often viewed unborn babies as a cancer to be eradicated: “Carry babies to full term, then deliver them without sucking their brains out?!? What a novel concept!” Yes. Carrying to term. Shocking.
Furthermore, Democrats continue to reject other ideas that have already proven effective in deterring abortions – in particular, requiring women to view ultrasound images of their unborn children. Democrats base their opposition, of course, on that bedrock constitutional freedom that our Founders died for yet wasn’t discovered in the Constitution until three decades ago: the right to an abortion. As Sen. Barack Obama said – at a recent forum sponsored by … you guessed it, Planned Parenthood – a woman’s right to an abortion is “one of the most fundamental freedoms we have in this country.” Yeeaah. Right up there with the right to fart in public and eat Cheez Whiz straight from the can.
Listen, I admit that counseling, the encouragement of adoption instead of abortion, and expanded educational and medical assistance for would-be parents are good things, but these are hardly the core policy goal of the anti-abortion movement. That movement’s chief policy goal is the eradication of abortion. Period. If Democrats were reaching across the aisle in good faith, with pure motives based on love and genuine moral concern, I could accept this gesture, without reservation, as a step in the right direction. But it’s being done only to gain votes.
So good luck impressing this religious voter; a mere change in semantics and a few feel-good measures still leaves you light-years away from getting my vote. And keep on hacking Scripture in your speeches; that impresses me a lot too.