We’ve heard just about every topic
debated by Democratic presidential candidates and we will no doubt continue to
hear and read about policy proposals on
climate change, the economy, gun control, health care, and foreign
policy, not to mention candidates’ tax returns and their physical as well as
mental fitness to hold office. What has not been debated to any significant
extent is the cause of this country’s deteriorating cultural and moral health.
Take gun control. Politicians all
seem to think that the solution to preventing mass shootings in malls and
schools is more gun control. The enemy is the NRA, and the real target for
reform is the Second Amendment. If we can only get the guns out of the hands of
the mentally ill, say the critics. But what they are really saying is that we
will not solve the problem until the Second Amendment is repealed and all guns
are seized from all gun owners. “Hell, yes,” said Beto O’Rourke.
What we never hear from the candidates is a
condemnation of business enterprises that profit from the culture of violence,
of people who corrupt our youth with movies, TV shows, and video games that
celebrate death and destruction, the more gruesome the better. This is nothing
more than our culture’s moral rot in action.
Underlying all of this is how our
society is debasing the value of life itself. The most divisive issue of all,
the one that splits our country in half, is the issue of abortion. Tthe current
runs strong and deep on both sides.
We see it in the marches and
rallies. We see it in arguments in favor or against funding Planned Parenthood.
And we see it in the protests against public positions taken by our
politicians.
When Governor Northam of Virginia
supported not only late-term abortions but also the denial of medical care to
babies who survived botched abortions, the protests were so loud they almost
cost him his job.
When Senate Minority Leader Chuck
Schumer threatened Supreme Court justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh if they struck
down abortion rights (“You won’t know what hit you if you go forward with these
awful decisions”), he was forced to immediately recant.
The winds are beginning to change, I
think. On February 25th two bills in the U.S. Senate failed to get the 60 votes
necessary to override a filibuster. One bill would have banned abortions after
20 weeks, with exceptions for the life of the mother and victims of rape and
incest. The bill failed in a 53-44 vote, even with the support of Democratic
senators Bob Casey of Pennsylvania and Joe Manchin of West Virginia.
The second bill would have penalized
doctors who fail to “exercise the proper degree of care in the case of a child
who survives an abortion or attempted abortion.” This bill failed by a vote of
56-41, with all Republicans voting in favor, and Senators Casey, Manchin, and
Doug Jones of Alabama joining them.
I can understand the defeat of the
first bill; Americans are fairly evenly divided on the issue of a woman’s right
to choose to terminate a pregnancy, even one as advanced as 20 weeks. In fact,
some even support that right up until the very moment of birth. I doubt very
much, however, that a majority of Americans recognize the right of a mother,
with the assistance of her doctor, to terminate the life of a baby who survived
an attempted abortion. Opponents call this what it is—Infanticide.
By latest count there have been over
61 million abortions performed in this country since Roe v. Wade in 1973,
almost a million and a half a year. That average has dropped to below a million
a year, an encouraging sign.
Over 90% of abortions are performed
for the “convenience” of the mother. Supporters of a woman’s reproductive
rights are OK with that. But there seems to be a growing disgust with late-term
abortions and especially with partial birth abortions. But I think most
pro-choice Americans hang their heads when it comes to infanticide. Are they
beginning to re-examine their views on the sanctity of life? I hope so.
No comments:
Post a Comment