These elected servants see no moral repugnance in a procedure that entails an abortionist partially delivering a live baby, then puncturing the infant's skull and vacuuming out her brain. The procedure is unrecognized in any medical textbook, by any college of medicine or professional medical association. It has been likened to infanticide, but that characterization is inaccurate: It is infanticide.
The partial-birth abortion procedure should not be tolerated in any society that purports to be civilized. Had such horrors been committed by a demented Dr. Mengele in a Nazi concentration camp, the world properly would have recoiled in revulsion and arisen in moral outrage. Yet 33 U.S. senators and 139 members of the United States House voted to affirm this revolting practice. Anyone so insensitive to such an affront to the inherent worth and dignity of every human life has rendered himself or herself unfit to hold an office of public trust. No one holding racist or anti-Semitic opinions would be judged fit for elective office. Likewise, anyone who defends infanticide is morally unfit.
In the most recent Gallup Poll taken in January, more than 70 percent of Americans opposed partial-birth abortion and supported making it illegal. Yet a third of the members of the Senate and House voted to affirm the killing of fully developed babies through the most horrific means imaginable. This was a breathtaking demonstration of moral blindness.
The extremist supporters of partial-birth abortion dismissed the American public's moral outrage and asserted that "only" 2,200 such procedures are performed annually. While there is reason to believe the actual number is much larger, let's accept it as accurate. Imagine the public's reaction were seven little children abducted and brutally murdered every day – day after day. Congress recently established a nationwide Amber Alert system to address relatively rare cases of child abduction. But one-third of Congress could not summon the moral sensibility to banish the horror of partial-birth abortion and its deadly toll.
The passage of the partial-birth abortion ban rewards the tireless efforts of Rep. Steve Chabot of Ohio and Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania who refused to be discouraged by Bill Clinton's two vetoes of similar legislation. Senate Republicans have agreed to drop language affirming Roe v. Wade from their version of the PBA ban, clearing the way for the two bills to be reconciled and sent to President Bush for his signature.
Predictably, House passage of the PBA bill sent the pro-abortion crowd into near hysterics. That NARAL, Planned Parenthood and others defend this indefensible procedure demonstrates again how extreme the culture of death spawned by Roe v. Wade has become. No civilized person can defend this procedure. Yet NARAL's Kate Michelman is actually raising money by defending the slaughter of innocents, quoting FRC's defense of life as reason to support partial-birth abortion. Well, we are proud to stand against this barbarism and make no apology for affirming the infinite worth of every human being.
Finally, the pro-abortion crowd doubtless will seek to kill this law the moment President Bush signs it. The pro-infanticide set already has identified friendly federal judges and will seek a restraining order from one of them, seeking to have the law suspended while they seek a permanent injunction. The apologists for infanticide will cite Stenberg v. Carhart, the 5 to 4 Supreme Court decision that struck down more than 30 state laws banning partial-birth abortion.
The bill the House passed this week addresses the concerns Justice O'Connor raised in Stenberg. Justice O'Connor demanded an exception for the health of the mother. Despite the efforts of the pro-abortion crowd to confuse the issue, the truth is this procedure is never medically necessary. The findings included in the legislation, based on expert medical testimony, make this clear. The procedure exists solely to make it easier for an abortionist to kill a fully formed baby. The bill also more precisely defined the banned procedures, thereby addressing the other objection the court majority raised.
Attorney General John Ashcroft and the Bush Justice Department must be prepared to mount an immediate and vigorous defense of the legislation against these attacks. This horror must be banned from our country – once and for all. The unanswered question is whether a majority on the Supreme Court will evince the same moral obtuseness shown by those senators and congressmen who voted to preserve this form of infanticide. Will a handful of justices cast aside the will of 70 percent of the American people and two-thirds of their elected representatives and instead impose their personal opinions on the country? It's time we reclaimed our moral sanity.
Kenneth L. Connor is president of Family Research Council.
© 2003
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