Every once in a while, a smart pundit cuts through the partisan chatter and says something, well, sensible.
David Frum did just that on cnn.com today in his must-read column titled, "Let's get real about abortions."
More after the squiggle...
Frum basically says that all this talk about God-given rape, forcible rape, legitimate rape misses the fact that in most cases, abortion is due to economics.
In the prosperous 1990s, abortion rates declined rapidly. In the less prosperous '00s, abortion rates declined more slowly. When the economy plunged into crisis in 2008, abortion rates abruptly rose again.
We know this -- you've heard these facts before. But they got forgotten in all this bizarre campaign talk that ignores the lives of women.
More from Frum:
Abortion is a product of poverty and maternal distress.
In addition to this sensible talk about abortion and real life, Frum floats some questions he'd ask an anti-abortion candidate.
"OK, Mr. Mourdock, you say your principles require a raped woman to carry the rapist's child to term. That's a heavy burden to impose on someone. What would you do for her in return? Would you pay her medical expenses? Compensate her for time lost to work? Would you pay for the child's upbringing? College education?
And more sense:
"Rather than tell us what you'd like to ban, tell us please what you think government should do to support more happy and healthy childbearing, to reduce unwanted pregnancies and to alleviate the economic anxieties of mothers-to-be?"
Too bad our politicians -- and advocates -- can't talk about this issue in a way that is not so highly charged and dishonest.
Your thoughts, Kossacks?