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Whoopi's Coat Hanger
April 26, 2004
Whoopi Goldberg brandished a coat hanger at yesterday's huge abortion rights rally in Washington, D.C., saying THIS is what it'll come to again unless we mobilize. I'm actually pro-choice; small government conservatives have no right to dictate what a woman does with her body. The emotionally charged "abortion is murder" stuff is morally grounded and within the parameters of free speech. But it kills any attempt at finding a middle ground, which perhaps is the point. That said, I still think it's sad today's liberal-left women frame the issue in terms of fear Roe v. Wade will be overturned. The alarmists actually know, but can't say publicly, that GOP strategists and Congressional leaders would never allow confirmation of a series of Supreme Court nominees likely to trash Roe. The minute they do that, the party loses huge swaths of moderate suburban Republicans for good, especially women. Political suicide. Choice advocates also emphasize the key role of the government, including local school districts, in providing abortion-related counseling, and contraception. OK, I'm not inherently opposed. But even though abstinence for teens often gets emphasis in writing, it only gets lip service beyond that. More and more swing voters understand that while choice is an established legal right that should not be rescinded; abortion is usually an avoidable tragedy. We've talked about that here before. The Left needs to harp as much on personal responsibility and family solidarity, to make sure more young women who do not want to have babies, or are not equipped to raise children, do not become pregnant. Instead, we get condoms in junior high-schools. Abortion rates have been declining according to Centers For Disease Control data, however their numbers are incomplete and haven't been updated recently. Thousands of abortions are still performed daily in the U.S., scores more globally. In "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness," Peggy Noonan writes that she asked a friend, "a smart, thoughtful liberal," why, "if liberals are appropriately concerned about troubled teenagers getting pregnant, don't they talk to those kids about not having sex?" Here's her liberal friend's blistering answer: "..you're missing something. It's what I call F***ing as an Entitlement. F***ing has become another entitlement to urban liberals. They think twelve-year-olds are incapable of any restraint, that little girls are ready, period. They think you can f*** without remorse, without responsibility...A lot of the these kids don't have...functioning parents..." If Noonan's liberal friend was saying that no later than 1994 (when the book was published), small wonder Hillary Clinton was left to acknowledge yesterday that many women just aren't rallying around the choice flag anymore. Throughout the day, speakers urged marchers to use the power of their vote to preserve abortion rights. Small wonder too that pro-choice campus feminists have so little traction. Acknowledging recent polls showing an erosion of support for abortion rights among college-age women, (21-year-old senior and president of Northeastern University's Feminist Student Organization Adrianne) Ortega said apathy was a greater problem than dissent. She noted that of 10,000 students on campus, only 100 were members of her organization. Because they don't buy the Chicken Little act on abortion rights; and know they're already empowered to control their destinies. A February CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll found abortion ranked second-to-last in importance as an issue to voters, trailed only by gay marriage. A new Gallup poll shows Americans are almost evenly split on abortion, and most do not favor unrestricted abortion. More info on both polls here. Whoopi and Gloria Steinem are leading The Lemmings of The Left over a cliff. Posted by Matt Rosenberg at April 26, 2004 08:57 AM Trackback Pings TrackBack URL for this entry: Comments:
Good analysis of a dying issue for a dying interest group. I've never understood why, if these are mostly liberal women, they don't push for guaranteed prenatal care for all women below a certain economic line - it would give them another choice, right? Instead they push against any and all restrictions on abortion, repeating the mantra of "choice" as if it fully rationalizes a woman getting an abortion in the third trimester, or her boyfriend threatening her to get an abortion or else, or her family saying "you're not going to embarrass us again." They're not real feminists in my book. Real feminists don't pit women against their children and implicitly tell them "you have no other choice." You're right about small government conservatives, which is why I think being pro-life should be a liberal position, trying to protect the weakest members of society from being pushed out of the way by those with voices, literally speaking. Posted by: Greg at April 26, 2004 11:42 AMThanks for covering this Matt. Well said. I am pro-choice. That having been said, I favor limits on abortions over 20 weeks (to save the life of the mother, or in cases of severe fetal abnormality, mainly). There is not a place for me at the table right now in most women's groups. For most it's "all or nothing". To support limits on late-term abortions means to effectively excuse yourself from most discussions before you're branded part of the "problem". I also think rather than focusing so intently on abortion, there should be more focus on domestic violence, culturally "sanctioned" violence (like FGM, honor killings) here and abroad, rape, sex education, affordable birth control, and also affordable child care. I am not in fear of the Roe v. Wade being overturned for the same reasons Matt listed in his post. It's unfortunate that more women on the liberal left do not realize that they are alienating moderate women like me. Women who are politically aware, willing to work at a grassroots level, but who do not feel comfortable among their ranks any longer. Posted by: Bonnie at April 26, 2004 04:53 PMI consider the entire abortion legal environment today an abomination. The federal government has absolutely no business regulating (or funding) anything about abortion. There is NO constitutional right to an abortion for that matter. The Bill of Rights makes is pretty clear that this is a matter reserved for the States and the People. My opinion is that each state or locality should regulate abortion as it sees fit. If such a matter were to be put to vote in my locality, I would vote to allow abortion, provided certain limitations are imposed (such as no "partial-birth" abortion unless the mother's life is in danger or there is a high probability of severe deformities in the fetus, for example). I see abortion as a medical AND spiritual issue, not a governmental one. To the extent it is a political issue, it should be settled locally. Posted by: James Na at April 27, 2004 01:55 AMThe article that you quote me in relates the struggle over reproductive rights to a "chicken little act..." The article that you quote me in relates the struggle over reproductive rights to a "chicken little act..." The article that you quote me in relates the struggle over reproductive rights to a "chicken little act..." Adrianne, Oh go ahead and have another abortion, will ya? Posted by: Tom Anderson at January 30, 2006 02:29 PMPost a comment
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