I am not an expert on abortion, but I wanted to learn more. So I did some reading on the issue and discovered something quite shocking. Below is an excert from The Washington Post dated August 13, 2008. First, it states the "new" Democratic stance on abortion. It follows with an attempt to justify their views with a commentary from a former Catholic University law professor dean. The actual wording from the article is in quotation marks.
New plank:
"The Democratic Party strongly and unequivocally supports Roe v Wade and a woman's right to choose a safe and legal abortion, regardless of ability to pay, and we oppose any and all efforts to weaken or undermine that right. The Democratic Party also strongly supports a woman's decision to have a child by ensuring access to and availability of programs for pre and post natal health care, parenting skills, income support, and caring adoption programs."
(The previous plank is similar to the new one, but adds that abortion should be rare.)
"Douglas Kmiec, a former Catholic University law school dean, who surprised fellow Catholic conservatives with his endorsement of Obama last year, urged Republicans to join Democrats in supporting practical means to reduce abortions, and to do more to help parents provide a good life to those who are born." Kmiec was quoted as saying, "Anything that recognizes Roe v Wade as legitimate is unacceptable from a Catholic point of view, but we live in the real world. Our faith is not unexposed in our pocket, but rather meant to transform the political process as it exists. This gets us beyond Roe. Roe has turned out to be a legal dead end, and a moral dead end."
I tend to be cynical of things I read and hear. Although facts may be correct, they may also be misleading in an attempt to divert attention away from the author's true intention. Let's start with the new plank. On the surface it sounds compassionate and wonderful. However, while promoting good health the Democratic party also sneaks in "regardless of ability to pay" and asks for "income support". Now, why in the devil would they find that nesessary to include in their plank. To the trained eye it appears that good health actually takes a back seat to their true intention of socialized health care. Let's also examine what is left out. There is no mention of educating people on safe sex practices to prevent pregnancy in the first place. Also, they left out the part that abortion should be rare.
Mr. Kmiec is obviously not objective. He openly supports Obama and instead of asking both sides to move closer to the center he asks only the Republicans to compromise their values. And although "rare" was omitted and public funding may soon be made available for abortions, he claims this will actually reduce the number of abortions. That is obviously not true. Money is always part of the decision-making process in the United States. So whenever anything is free... or even just closer to free, it becomes a more viable choice.
Also, I am not a Catholic, but I was appalled at what he went on to say about the real world. Apparently, he feels Catholics should abort their beliefs as well as their babies. Hey, Mr. Kmiec, Catholicism is not a phase; it's a belief. "...but we live in the real world". I'm still astonished by that. You cannot expect a Catholic to praise God until it become inconvenient. The new plank is a ploy to make those opposed to it appear to be unrealistic.
Readers: whatever your stance on abortion is, please have it be heart-felt. Don't sugar-coat it. If you don't believe it, it won't taste any sweeter.
Thank you and God bless.
David
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What are you saying here that Democrats favor abortion? I favor abortion entirely and can give you 1000 reasons why a woman should have right to do as they feel morrally right with their bodies (i.e. rape, incest, too young, too old, mental retardation, the list goes on and on)....What does this article portray David?
ReplyDeleteBababooey,
ReplyDeleteMy points were that the Democrats want to reduce the number of abortions in the US, but simultaneously want them to be easier to get... at OUR expense. Also, their advocate said that although religious beliefs are important "we live in the real world" and should compromise our beliefs. All I did was copy the new plank (platform) that the Democrats issued.
My view on abortion is irrelevant. I just thought it was 2-faced on the Dems to say one thing, but then make it easier to attain and audacious on Kmiec's part to suggest the "real world" is more important than someone's religious beliefs.