I am pro-life. I believe that the government has a compelling interest in the promotion of life. But I'm not an extremist. The morning after pill I can support. I support the distribution of condoms, birth control pills and aid to single mothers. Of course idiots like the murderer of Dr. George Tiller or anti-abortion demagogue Randall Terry aren't really pro-life. As a pro-life person I'm embarrassed to be in the company of these individuals.
If you oppose abortion because you believe it is murder, then how do you justify murder? The religious extremists will quote the Bible saying, "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth," but that passage doesn't mention capital punishment. Nor does it excuse vigilante justice. And people like me, people who are actually pro-life, would cite the Ten Commandments, which clearly commands us to not kill other human beings.
The fanatical right got its way under Bush. Some even convinced themselves that the Supreme Court's granting itself the power to decide an election--a power which is specifically given to Congress in the Constitution--was an act of divine intervention. These people claim that they are strict constructionists and that they only believe in what the constitution says.
The truth is that they believe in the Constitution when it suits their political agenda. The Constitution is quite clear that the US House has the right to decide disputed Presidential elections. And there's a reason for that: the House is directly accountable to the people, and if they erred then the people could vote them out in two years.
The US Constitution clearly says that "cruel and unusual punishment" is illegal. No one disputes that torture is cruel and unusual punishment, but somehow the fanatical right has convinced itself that it is legal.
The US Constitution clearly says that Due Process should be given to all citizens, and that all people are innocent until proven guilty. Dr. Tiller was prosecuted several times under Kansas law, and he was always acquitted.
Of course, you wouldn't know that from listening to right-wing demagogue Randell Terry, who cares about nothing but the sound of his own voice. Terry told the AP that murder was "one of the pro-life movement's most effective tactics":
While many anti-abortion leaders swiftly issued statements condemning the shooting, their expressions of dismay were not echoed by Randall Terry, a veteran anti-abortion activist whose protests have often targeted Tiller.
"George Tiller was a mass murderer and we cannot stop saying that," Terry said. "He was an evil man — his hands were covered with blood."
Terry said he was now concerned that the Obama administration "will use Tiller's killing to intimidate pro-lifers into surrendering our most effective rhetoric and actions."
As a pro-lifer, I'm concerned that there will be more abortions because of the actions of idiots like Randall Terry. Terry doesn't support things like aid to single mothers with new born children, condoms distribution, or universal health care which would give women access to birth control. In fact, Terry pickets politicians who express these sensible, and yes pro-life, views.
Instead, Terry has appointed himself God, and he believes that these things are immoral, cause people to be damned to hell, etc. From my point of view, that's just all a smokescreen for what this is really about. Terry doesn't want the world to realize that it's just another gig for him and people like him. They make a nice career, and salary, out of spreading irrational outrage, fear, and hate.
Those of us who are actually pro-life should be wary of false prophets like Terry. I believe that they are nothing more than opportunistic demagogues who won't have a career--or a paycheck--if we solve the abortion problem.