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Has it really only been a few weeks since I wrote This I Know? Sometimes, when I look back on the Supreme Court decision to uphold a law which placed women in danger, it seems like it must have been a very long time ago... or maybe just a dream.
While I was off doing other things, it seems the folks in the pro-life camps are having some stress. A coalition of evangelical Protestant and Roman Catholic groups is attacking Focus on the Family founder James Dobson. (And really, who could be more deserving?) At the heart of this disgruntlement is the Supreme Court's decision to uphold the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act.
An open letter to Dobson ran as a full page ad in the Washington Times on May 30. Signed by the president of Colorado Right to Life, Human Life International, American Life League and the director of Operation Rescue, this can hardly be construed as some liberal attempt to stir the pot.
...Following your example, many national ministries have spent years using the PBA ban to motivate financial donations, all the while misrepresenting the legal effect of the ban. Today millions of Christians, including your own staff, have been deceived. ...this ban cannot prevent a single abortion... The truth is, there is nothing new with this ruling that is good, no precedent, no defense of life, only brutality and death..."
In as much as I do like seeing the truth about this court ruling come to light within the money-hungry pro-life movement, there is still one very large piece of the puzzle they are missing: In their quest to prevent a family from deciding what is in its best interest, they are placing a life in greater risk. This ban has effectively told women that the government does not care about her life, only the potential life within her -- even if that potential life is expected to never take one breath of air.
Don't believe me? Read what Focus on the Family Vice President Tom Minnery said in the Post article:
"The old procedure, which is still legal, involves using forceps to pull the baby apart in utero, which means there is greater legal liability and danger of internal bleeding from a perforated uterus. So we firmly believe there will be fewer later-term abortions as a result of this ruling."
Back up and read it again if you need to do so. Minnery is saying that he understands the other procedure which has the same end result for the fetus is still legal and a more dangerous alternative for the woman. Matter of fact, he's counting on it as a part of his political strategy.
Let me also help out the pro-life crowd with another piece of information they've been withheld: Elective late-term abortions were already illegal. Wow... maybe those women having late-term abortions weren't happy about them. Maybe it wasn't something they did for convenience. Maybe it was actually done with the blessing of their husbands and doctors because it was medically necessary and in the best interest of the family.
Once again, my thanks to all the pro-life people out there. Your donations and shouts from the rooftops have been successful... just not in the way you intended. No fetuses will be saved because of your efforts; however, there is a real possibility that more women will suffer and, perhaps, die. I guess that's what they get for getting knocked up with severely disfigured and terminally ill fetuses.
But you shouldn't take my word for it. Here's an article by Rebecca Vesely which outlines how the remaining legal procedures are more harmful to women ... and may actually result in more fetal deaths after reproductive organs are damaged. If you're still confused what this might really all be about, be sure to check in with Dahlia Lithwick at Slate.
The ironic twist in all this is no matter how much I want to go to the chalk board and write "I Told You So" about a million times, those four words won't do a thing to help the women who will be physically and mentally hurt by this ruling.
Some links:
Comments (1)
At least they are finally catching on to the lies which have been used to manipulate them. My mother gave I don't know how much in donations to Dobson and his like -- throwing good money after bad. She could be eating pet foood while they fly around in private jets. Those bastards don't cae about her, God's word or anything except their own living standards.
Posted by Lisa-D | June 6, 2007 4:17 PM
Posted on June 6, 2007 16:17