Blogging for the March for Life Coming January 22, 2007
This is an unborn baby.
This is a person.
The annual March for Life will take place on January 22nd as it has on that day for every year since 1973 — the anniversary of Roe vs Wade.
The Family Research Council is hosting a bloggers’ row again this year. Register here. Speakers this year include Senator Sam Brownback, Congressman Duncan Hunter, Ramesh Ponnuru and Jill Stanek. (And it’s free! Coffee and wireless included!)
Here’s the Washington Post quoting Charmaine from last year’s March.
Charmaine Yoest, a vice president at the Family Research Council, told a morning gathering of 40 antiabortion bloggers that the demise of Roe would mean a battle within each state over whether abortion should be legal — a more localized, grass-roots fight.
“Consensus is building that we are moving into a post- Roe future, and we need to be ready,” she said.
The pendulum swing, she said, is reflected in the confirmation of Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and the nomination of Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. to the Supreme Court. Neither man is a guaranteed antiabortion vote in any court case, Yoest noted, and even if both men vote to overturn Roe , the balance on the court is still 5 to 4 in favor of the ruling.
But society is clearly more open to the idea that Roe was a bad ruling on constitutional grounds, Yoest said, and is generally becoming more concerned about ethical ramifications in such areas as stem cell research and euthanasia.
“You’re seeing an increasing feeling that Roe was poorly decided. And Alito’s confirmation will be a watershed moment in that direction,” she said.
The Alert Reader will note that the aforementioned bloggers are named as “antiabortion” not “pro-life.”
Thank you (foot)notes:
See more on Protesters See Mood Shift Against ‘Roe’ Court Nominees, Young Activists Cited at Annual Antiabortion March at the jump
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 24, 2006; Page A03
Tens of thousands of abortion opponents held an upbeat rally on the cold, gray streets of downtown Washington yesterday and described what they see as a societal tide turning against the 33-year-old Roe v. Wade court decision that legalized the procedure.
[See The Roe Effect]
Demonstrators at the annual March for Life said their movement has been buoyed by two recent Supreme Court nominees — one of them confirmed — who appear open to reconsidering the 1973 decision. They talked optimistically about how technological advances are producing clearer sonograms, which could make it harder to argue that a fetus is not a person.
And they noted yesterday’s large turnout of young people, who filled the march route along Constitution Avenue and lined the walls outside the Supreme Court in cheerleader jackets, black leather outfits with studs and T-shirts that read, “Abortion is Mean”…
The situation is awkward. Surveying the US population, the majority of people are – well, by definition – moderates. They usually support the right to early abortions, but would support a ban on late term abortions, and almost always allow abortions in the cases of rape, incest, serious fetal abnormality or medical threat to the mother from continuing pregnency. The exact cut-off between late and early varies, but its usually somewhere in the second trimester.
This means that they have no political representation. The pro-life side of politics is run by extremists, the ‘sacred moment of conception’ crowd. They are loathe to allow any abortions, at all, no matter the circumstances or timing – and this is not what the majority wants. The pro-choice side has been forced by this to take an equally extreme position itsself, protecting a right to abortion under all circumstances, because it knows that the legal recognition of a right to abortion is the only thing that stops pro-life from achieving its objective of a total ban – even though most pro-choicers dont support late-term abortion on a whim, the political situation requires they campaign for it anyway.
The moderate majority can just huddle in the middle and try to stay out of the way, because both sides hate them – the pro-lifers consider anyone who doesn’t worship the sacred embryo to be as good as a murderer, while the pro-choicers see anyone who publicly opposes abortion-on-demand as attacking the legal safeguards that currently prevent an outright and total ban on abortion from being implimented.
Charmaine,
I mention the FRC frequently on my blog, usually in unflattering ways. But it would be more fun if there were someone willing to defend them against my frequent attacks, so… if you want, feel free to read it :> I only do a post a week or so, wont take up much of your time.
Time better spent learning to rebuild a Holley carburetor, ask Jack, plus this new and arcane car knowledge will come in handy when a certain young kid in the house discovers Hot Rod.
The blog, under discussion in comments, reads like it was put together by a 17-year old on last minute class asssignment. Full of misspellings, shakey logic and half-hearted research. This much aggravation could just as easily be accomplished by hitting your head with a Wiffle Bat until it feels like being hit with a Louisville Slugger.
Thank you for submitting this piece to the Carnival of the Redeemed.
Thank you for your research and post. Also, for the stand you take.