Pro-life nation
When Lee Goodman asked anti-abortion protesters what the punishment should be for a woman who gets an abortion, most of them hemmed and hawed, unable (on camera anyway) to follow their "abortion is murder" formulation to its logical conclusion: the woman who has an abortion is a murderer, and murderers are put in prison for life, or executed.
El Salvador, on the other hand, had no such problem. For the last eight years, abortion has been completely illegal there, with no restrictions for the life and health of the mother. Fetuses have constitutionally protected rights from the moment of conception. Women are harshly punished for having abortions, and doctors are required to report evidence they find of an abortion to the police.
Jack Hitt explores this world in his forthcoming New York Times Magazine cover story this Sunday. You must listen to this interview with him. It is eye-opening to say the least. If the War on Straight People continues the way it's been going, this is where we're headed.
posted by Luke Francl @ 10:12 PM |
| 
3 Comments:
You, and most lefties are making a fundamental mistake in your analysis of the situation.
There are a few nutjobs on the right who feel abortion is murder, but for most of us, this is a federalist and a judicial issue.
Its federalist because there's no where in the constitution that it says regulate abortion. So it ought to be left to the states, which is to say, the citizens of the states.
Its a judicial issue in the sense that Roe v. Wade was a judicial fiat that made a law. Its not as if a majority of legislators got togather, proposed, debated and passed a law that ensure a woman could have an abortion. (Although that had certainly happened in most states before Roe.)
So there are many people, like me, that support on demand abortion, but oppose Roe, even more that support "some" restrictions such as so called "partial birth" abortions or "abortion pills" and even more that support exceptions for health, force etc.
There's a broad continuum of opinion on this subject and continuing to portray it as a black and white issue with hysterical undertones is silly.
There is no high ground in this discussion, for every El Salvador story, I've heard one of unrepentent preteen-welfare crack "Moms" using federal funds to promote promiscuity. Its all ugly.
The best answer is somewhere in the middle, or more accurately the least bad answer. But until the people really have a choice (to decide what the law ought to be) all we have is these sorts of bipolar arguements.
-Censored
A "few" nut jobs?
The popular discourse of the pro-life movement has been put those simple terms: "Abortion is murder."
Period.
Thanks for proving my point.
The truth is that most legislative attempts have been small moves towards the middle. In effect moderating measures. Things like parental notification, or late term limitations.
You are certainly welcome to your own opinion, but you don't get to have your own facts.
-Censored
Post a Comment
<< Home