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Jewish World Review August 12, 2005 / 7 Av, 5765 NARAL is the conservatives' secret weapon By Froma Harrop
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
What NARAL Pro-Choice America was up to remains unclear, but we
who defend a right to abortion wish the group would go away. The group
created an uproar by running a television ad that linked U.S. Supreme Court
nominee John Roberts to the criminal who bombed a clinic in Birmingham, Ala.
The ad has been pulled, thank you. It was so off-the-wall you
wondered whether NARAL really cared about preserving our reproductive rights
or whether it just wanted to raise a quick buck by manufacturing a crisis.
Factcheck.org, a nonpartisan group that judges political ads for accuracy,
said the spot was false, misleading and unfair.
The abortion issue doesn't belong in a Punch and Judy show. It
is a tough issue, or should be, for everyone.
Despite years of passionate campaigns by abortion foes, the
pro-choice view continues to prevail in America. A mere 17 percent of those
polled by ABC News/Washington Post say that abortion should be illegal under
all circumstances. That doesn't mean the remaining 83 percent of Americans
want no restrictions placed on abortion. Most do, and they should. But the
fact remains that a clear majority supports the basic right.
Contrary to popular perceptions, the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade
ruling does not guarantee an unlimited right to abortion. Roe leaves the
decision totally to the woman and her doctor in only the first trimester. It
lets states restrict abortions in the second trimester and outlaw them in
the third, unless necessary to preserve a woman's "life and health." We can
argue over whether Roe v. Wade is good constitutional law, but as public
policy on abortion, it's not bad.
That said, a discussion on what we mean by the "health" of the
woman is well justified. Congress dealt with the matter by simply crossing
off "health" as a concern. Its law forbidding late-term abortions —
"partial birth" abortions to "pro-life" activists — allows them only to
save the life of the woman. Partly because of the "health" exception in Roe,
lower courts have thrown out such bans.
Most of us agree that these abortions should be done only under
extraordinary circumstances. So if by "health" we mean the psychic
well-being of someone who decided late in the game that she didn't want a
baby, then no, the pregnancy must go to full term. But if something has gone
terribly wrong, and the women would be physically ravaged by continuing a
pregnancy, then we must have a different kind of debate.
Other fights over abortion take place mostly around the edges.
Some states have imposed laws requiring parental notification for minors or
brief waiting periods. Both impositions may be bad ideas, but they do not
threaten the basic right.
Whatever the issue, activists don't advance their cause by
driving in a tank and firing wildly at a Supreme Court nominee — especially
one who doesn't seem to be their enemy. No one knows how Roberts personally
feels about abortion, but he did say in 2003 that Roe was "the settled law
of the land." (By the way, a recent poll shows that 65 percent of Americans
want Roberts to uphold Roe.)
NARAL's ham-fisted approach forces groups like Catholics for a
Free Choice or The Republican Majority for Choice to fight a two-front war.
They already have angry "pro-lifers" coming at them from one direction. They
shouldn't have to distance themselves from erstwhile allies. These groups
speak to people with very mixed feelings about abortion. Their task is a
delicate one.
Even NARAL, somewhere in the back of its brain, understands the
sensitivities involved. NARAL, after all, recently took the word "abortion"
out of its official name. NARAL used to call itself National Abortion and
Reproductive Rights Action League.
Whatever side NARAL is working for, it doesn't seem to be the
side of being effective. The group has gotten a burst of publicity, for
sure. But that's no great accomplishment in this land of instant outrage.
Anyone can do it on a slow day in August.
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© 2005 Creators Syndicate |
Arnold Ahlert | |||||||||||
