It’s Time To Tackle Roe
By Bonnie Chernin Rogoff (09/03/04)
Planned Parenthood, NARAL and other pro-abortion groups kicked off their “March for Women’s Lives” over the Brooklyn Bridge, part of a series of anti-Bush demonstrations taking place around the city while the Republicans are in town. The event was especially joyous for the murder merchants. That’s because U. S. District Judge Richard Casey, who presided in the Manhattan partial birth abortion ban hearings, ruled that without a health exception for the mother the ban is unconstitutional.
Conveniently, these groups hailed the decision but ignored the rest of Judge Casey’s remarks. He’s abiding by the law, but admitted in his ruling: “The Court finds that the testimony at trial and before Congress establishes that D&X (partial birth abortion) is a gruesome, brutal, barbaric, and uncivilized medical procedure.”
It would be difficult not to agree with Judge Casey, based on the testimony of some of the abortion “doctors.” One such practitioner icily admitted that during the partial birth abortion procedure, the extremities are often torn off first while the unborn baby is alive, breathing and aware, and prior to the little victim’s brains being sucked out. To suggest that a second to third trimester preborn whose little body has a fully developed neurological system does not feel pain is preposterous. The baby feels excruciating pain. This is what the evildoers champion as a woman’s choice.
The “health” exception referred to by Judge Casey is found in a flawed U.S. Supreme Court decision that does not prohibit abortion in the third trimester. While Roe v. Wade seems to permit state regulation of late term abortions so long as maternal health is protected, Roe’s sister law, Doe v. Bolton expanded the health definition. Suddenly, social conditions were construed to be health concerns and met the legal criteria for healthy women to obtain late term abortions. These factors included emotional, familial, domestic and age-related circumstances. Doe’s architects were cunning because any limits mentioned in Roe would be undone by the companion law’s specificity. However, Roe is the law most often quoted by pro-aborts. If Americans dug deeper they’d learn that the woman’s health exception guarantees death without exception to all preborns in any legal challenge. Both laws must be overturned by a constitutional amendment for any progress to be made.
Pro-lifers have suffered heartbreaking defeats at the hands of radical judges and ACLU lawyers, yet many continue to support dubious candidates that wear the GOP label. All politicians must indicate serious intentions about reversing Roe and Doe and we must support them regardless of party affiliation.
In New York, Dr. Marilyn O’Grady is the Conservative Party’s Senate candidate, and she will get my vote. I will not compromise my pro-life ideals and vote for leftist Republican Assemblyman Howard Mills. As Dr. O’Grady proudly states on her site: “For too long in New York, Liberal Republicans have played "Me-Too" with the Democrats. Both Republican Howard Mills and Democrat Chuck Schumer are Pro-Abortion and favor gay civil unions. Strongly Pro-Life and adamantly opposed to special right for gays, Dr. O'Grady will defend our values.” A recent Quinnipiac poll has Mr. Mills leading Dr. O’Grady by only four percentage points and she may pull ahead, which would be an embarrassment to the New York State Republican Party and Mr. Mills.
All pro-lifers must join together and stop apologizing for being unequivocally pro-life. It’s not enough to say, “I’m against late term abortions, but I support Roe v. Wade.” If we stay that course, we’ll be seeing late term abortions for years to come.
If John Kerry gets elected, it will be a grim outcome for unborn children. However, I’m more concerned about what happens if President Bush wins re-election. Will we see pro-life judicial appointments, or a repeat performance of the Senate Republican concessions, fake filibusters, and overtures to Republican moderates who will weaken the conservative base even further? In his second administration, President Bush should reaffirm a strong position for life and advocate for the passage of a Human Life Amendment. As long as the GOP ignores efforts to overturn Roe and Doe, the pro-life platform will be lost and conservative voters will go elsewhere.
(Printer friendly version) Email: Bonnie Chernin Rogoff
