Assistant Op/Ed EditorAll the chaos over George II's crusade against Iraq has conveniently taken the focus away from his other, perhaps even more sinister crusade - a fight against abortion. The President recently declared the anniversary of the famous Roe v. Wade decision to be "National Sanctity of Human Life Day" for the second year in a row. He does not attack abortion outright, opting instead to push legislation broadening the definition of what makes a fetus a "person." He drapes his guarded condemnation in pretty phrases: "By working together to protect the weak, the imperfect and the unwanted, we affirm a culture of hope and help ensure a brighter future for all." In reality, however, his policy is a hypocritical scam and a gross violation of civil liberties.
"Every child is a priority and a blessing," declares Bush, speaking with the smug self-assurance of a man who will never adopt one of these "blessings" and would not be caught dead giving government money to support these "priorities." His position should be dismissed as dogmatic religious trash, but because he favors good politics over good policy, he merely spouts empty phrases that will inevitably be twisted like wire coat hangers into anti-abortion laws. In an effort to court female voters, the President and his administration talk about all the alternatives women have to abortion and yet are unwilling to help support them. He knows full well that the adoption programs of this country are under-funded and that conservatives' beloved abstinence education programs are ineffective. It is dangerous and hypocritical for Bush to preach about "protecting unborn children," when he is wholly unwilling to put his money where his mouth is. And it is disgraceful for him to say one thing to the women of this country, when, in truth, he continues to play the kind of political games that erode our liberties and right to privacy.
Even worse, by forcing mothers to have unwanted children, Bush would be exerting government control over the bodies of America's women. Can there be any more flagrant violation of personal liberty than to deny people control over their own bodies? The justices who decided Roe v. Wade understood that the issue was one of privacy; it is not the business of the state or federal government what a woman does with her uterus. If this right is stripped away, a dangerous precedent will be set leading to all sorts of devious curtailments of civil liberty. Given the current administration's track record on this issue - does the Office of Homeland Security ring a bell, for instance? - it is clear that giving such power to the president would be a threat to all Americans, not just women. The moral aspect of the abortion question is irrelevant, because the government has no business deciding who must be a mother.
In short, a chief executive who has openly admitted to supporting a "Human Life Amendment" to the Constitution is clearly a danger to the civil liberties of every American. Those who support a woman's right to choose must campaign with renewed vigor against Bush and his cohorts. We must remember that Bush isn't just talking about destroying the lives of nameless, faceless people; he is talking about our wives, our sisters, our daughters. His recklessness endangers all Americans, and so all Americans must rise to fight against it.
Readers may write Daniel Schwartz at dschwar2@binghamton.edu.
