Sunday, December 07, 2008

The Abortion Absolutists

Dreher's Erin comments on a Douthat essay in the NYT.

Douthat goes on to say that the reason pro-lifers can't work towards compromises isn't because there will always be some who will oppose all abortion on moral grounds and who will thus keep working toward ending abortion completely; it's because Roe v. Wade and its companion decisions act as barriers to compromise. Could reasonable Americans agree to restrict abortion after ten weeks, or to make abortion illegal after twenty weeks except to save the mother's physical life? Doesn't matter--in light of the Supreme Court's decisions on abortions neither of these compromises would be legal.

...in response to the Christie Whitmans of the world, who have "advice" for us pro-lifers, such as:

Their movement should focus on changing hearts and minds, rather than the law. It should be more consistently pro-life, by helping human beings outside the womb as well as those within it. It should cease trying to roll back the sexual revolution and standing athwart science yelling "stop!" And above all, it should be less absolutist, and more amenable to compromise (Douthat)

In fact, the Whitman Gang knows perfectly well that Roe is a "no compromise" decision; the issue is binary: either Roe is overturned, or unlimited abortion continues.

The effect: Whitman & Co. are the "absolutists," joining with HRC and Obama.

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