I didn't have time to post this last week due to the holdiday and all, but I was struck by the comments John McCain made last week regarding abortion. I think this was pretty widely read here. He actually said he'd support abortion in the case of "rape, incest and the life of the mother." Sounds kind of moderate (these days at least.)
But then right after that, he said the supreme court "should — could overturn Roe v. Wade", and he'd let the decision revert to the states. So, wait a minute, that sounds like a right wing theocrat. Which is it?
Let's help him make up his mind. The right has been dividing us with this issue for years with partial birth abortion, parental consent.... you name it. Part of the reason they are allowed to do this is that they can talk out of both sides of their mouths on issues like this. Now that we have Congress, why don't we turn the tables and look for some clarity on these issues?
So here's what McCain said again:
STEPHANOPOULOS: Let me ask one question about abortion. Then I want to turn to Iraq. You’re for a constitutional amendment banning abortion, with some exceptions for life and rape and incest.
MCCAIN: Rape, incest and the life of the mother. Yes.
STEPHANOPOULOS: So is President Bush, yet that hasn’t advanced in the six years he’s been in office. What are you going to do to advance a constitutional amendment that President Bush hasn’t done?
MCCAIN: I don’t think a constitutional amendment is probably going to take place, but I do believe that it’s very likely or possible that the Supreme Court should — could overturn Roe v. Wade, which would then return these decisions to the states, which I support.
What I'd propose is a simple federal law which says exactly what senator McCain says:
The right to abortion in the case of rape, incest or in cases where the woman's life is at risk is guaranteed under all circumstances.
This is simple, and if we are to believe McCain (or the pundits in DC), he would support it, since he is such a moderate sensible guy. But if he did, he'd lose the right wingers for whom this is issue #1.
Let's call it a vote of clarity: which are you Senator? Normal, sensible American or Theocrat? You can't be both.
Besides McCain, this would put a lot of "moderate" Repubs in a tight spot, since they would either have to support something like this (and split with the extreme right) or go on record saying, "yes I want more women to die."
Either way we get a clear split: wacko / not-wacko.
And if the recent elections are any indication, this is what we need to be doing more of. What would Collins & Snow do? Arlen Specter? What about those on the border next time: Norm Coleman? We need to force these people to either separate themselves from the right, or make it clear to their base who they are.
Why not move on?
The right to access to emergency contraception is guaranteed.
then
The right to all contraceptives is guaranteed regardless of the beliefs of the pharmacist.
...and just keep going. Each step provdies a new level clarity for the rest of us. This would also help groups like NARAL with their decision making process: look at this one vote and go from there.
For me personally, I think it's understandable that an individual could have a differing opinion on these issues- they are not black and white issues to everyone. I don't have an issue with this. The problem I have is primariy with the so-called moderates who say one thing to the right-wingers and another thing to the rest of us to sound moderate. I just want clarity -- call it the truth. (What a concept!)
And just to be clear, I don't think these steps alone are anywhere near the suficient level of protection that we need to fully protect individual rights (primarily of women) in this country. This particular suggestion is mostly a political one. But in our current state of affairs with Roberts and Alito on the supreme court, we are potentially going to need laws like this on the books anyway. The right is working non-stop to get laws on the books to limit abortion and chip away at the Roe (see South Dakota). There's no reason why we should assume that we won't be needing laws like this soon. If we get a political boost out of it as well... all the better.
Hope everyone had a great holiday!