Comments on: Chilling Them Softly

By: Sean

Sean — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 14:47:05 +0000

The one problem I see with this is that it’s a pendulum. Pro-choicers will slowly abort themselves out to the demographic margins, and pro-lifers will take over. But then pro-life policies will give rise to so many children in family situations (read: single motherhood) leading to social pathologies that people will once again come around to the need for abortion.

The pendulum never stops.

By: Sean

Sean — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 14:41:48 +0000

Ah, pro-choicers. The most self-defeating political movement in the history of American democracy.

By: Peter S

Peter S — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 07:57:54 +0000

Kevin,
I read through the Washington Post article that you linked to with the word “angry”, and at first I was confused since nothing in the text of the article referred to anger. Then I read the headline with “rips into”.

I find it interesting that they even covered it. Of course, it’s because of the GOP victories, and that’s the slant the article gave it with the headline and the focus on the statements of the members of Congress. Still, it struck me as otherwise neutral to mildly sympathetic with the quote from the man whose fiancée aborted their child. It also did not include the usual quote or two from a NARAL or PP representative denouncing the event.

Mike,
Interesting comments about contrast between “Brown” and “Roe” and about “The Brethren”. I’ve read “Roe” several times, although not recently, and that is how it strikes me. Justice White’s dissenting statement that it was a raw grab at power was quite apt. You may also want to read some of the articles that Mary Meehan has written about the writing of the “Roe” decision. She based them in large part on the research she did on Blackmun’s papers after they were made public.

By: Mike P.

Mike P. — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 22:15:19 +0000

I was at the DC March, and as a college student myself, I can say it is always heartening to see that many people (especially young people) there. It makes me very proud to be Catholic, but also to see the many non-Catholics who are there. It is extremely important to have this rally, because it really does help distinguish Roe from other SCOTUS cases that do earn respect (such as Brown v. Board of Education). In 1992, 38 years after Brown, there were no marches of 250,000 people protesting the ruling and praise for it only coming from part of one party. Roe is in that category of cases that the Court got wrong. Just because SCOTUS has ‘gotten it right’ in the past does not justify Roe.

Incidentally, if you want a good discussion of the process of drafting the Roe opinion, you should read the relevant sections of Bob Woodward’s book The Brethren. I’ve been reading it lately and it reveals that even the clerks at the time recognized that it was more a national medical policy than constitutional analysis. It also reveals a conflicted and tragic Justice Blackmun, who got progressively more liberal as he doubled-down on his decisions.

By: Anna

Anna — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 20:34:34 +0000

Another sign at the DC March, both clever and heartbreaking: “Life begins at conception and ends at Planned Parenthood.”

By: Maggie

Maggie — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 19:43:19 +0000

Let’s not forget the 50,000+ people who showed up to march in a warmer venue, if much chillier in atmosphere, in San Francisco. The pro-choice counter-protest was much smaller (if no less ugly and degraded: women dressed as the Blessed Virgin doing provacative dances, anyone?) than usual, and the pro-life crowd the biggest yet. One of the more poignant signs I saw was held by a 20-something: “We Survived the “Me” Generation – 50,000,000 Didn’t. We Speak for our Discarded Siblings.”