GOP « Greetings from Flyover Country

In the Aftermath of a Murder, Thoughts on a Woman’s Right to Choose

31
May/090

Randal Terry, of the Pro-Life group Operation Rescue, released a statement today regarding the murder of Dr. George Tiller. Mr. Terry’s comments are disgusting at best. Calling a man who was legally practicing medicine a “mass-murderer”, and who only grives because Tiller “did not have time to properly prepare his soul to face God”. That’s his only reaction to Tiller’s murder. He’s more worried that Obama will use this to “intimidate” pro-life groups? Disgusting. The man did nothing wrong, and had been the target of hate from groups like Operation Rescue for years. A man was murdered in cold blood by what amounts to a form of domestic terrorism, inside his place of worship with his wife singing in the choir as it happened, and all you have to say is that you are upset that he didn’t have time to redeem himself in the eyes of whatever God you believe in who condones such vile hatred towards a fellow human?

A disturbing political cartoon from a Catholic political cartoon blog.

There is a disturbing disconnect in America. Abortion is currently legal, and is a right given by the Supreme Court more than 35 years ago and upheld since then. If you do not agree with it, that is your right just as it is the right of the woman making a choice to have one. But it is not your place to make medical decisions for another person because of your moral beliefs. The gay marriage debate suffers many of the same issues, though is a relatively recent development. The pro-life side likes to think of abortion as black and white: you’re either against it in every form, or you must like killing babies. Andrew Sullivan (of The Atlantic) links to a discussion board website where a thread overwhelming praises Dr. Tiller’s murder. (There is a heartfelt dissent my a poster with a personal story, though it does little to assuage the mob’s irrationality.) People there, seemingly believing every word they type, think that Dr. Tiller would have killed a child if the “mother had a headache”, even going so far as to post the cartoon (from a Catholic cartoon blog) at left. The pro-choice crowd doesn’t advocate that everyone should go out and get pregnant so they can have an abortion. Far from it. They advocate that women have a right to make medical decisions regarding their body and their reproductive health, and the health of their unborn child who is incapable of making decisions.

America is keen on individual liberties such as speech or privacy, and the political right wants to make government smaller and get it out of our lives. Yet at the same time they freely associate with radical groups that wish to impose their beliefs, through law, limiting one’s personal rights. If the pro-life crowd wants to eliminate abortion, making it illegal isn’t going to help. Abortion being legal means that it’s not being done in dark back offices without proper medical oversight for the safety of the mother. Making it illegal won’t reduce the number of abortions. What will, however, is making more alternative available to mothers who may be thinking of having an abortion. Adoption being a huge one, though we need to also overhaul the adoption system in the country. And as much as it will jab a thorn into the social conservative’s side, birth control and proper sexual education will help, too. Telling children to “no have sex until marriage” is inherently flawed. Put some cookies on the table and tell a kid not to eat one, and it makes the cookies that much more tempting. How about instead we teach our kids that yes, waiting to have sex until you are mature and ready is the best course of action. But if you do have sex, here is how to do it safely and responsibly. If you want to avoid abortion, avoid the unwanted pregnancy.

The pro-life side looks up to Gov. Palin and her daughter as beacons for women who chose life and carried their pregnancies to term (their situations being having a child with a disability and an unplanned pregnancy). And they both may believe “in life” with the full force of their convictions. But let us not ignore that, in doing so, they made a choice to keep their pregnancies.

Written by: Ryan

Tagged as: Abortion, Abstinence, Gay Rights, GOP, Kansas, Religion, Sarah Palin, Separation of Church and State, Sex Ed, Wichita

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Bush and Cheney Skip Convention over Gustav

31
Aug/080

Bush, Cheney to skip Republican convention
White House says president, vice president will focus on Hurricane Gustav

President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger are all skipping the Republican National Convention.

Bush and Cheney are focusing on Hurricane Gustav, which is rapidly approaching the Gulf Coast. Schwarzenegger is staying home to deal with a standoff with California legislators over the state budget. All three had been scheduled to speak Monday night at the convention.

Presidential candidate John McCain was flying to Mississippi to be briefed on the hurricane, but was expected to return to the convention city later. — Associated Press, via MSNBC (Source)

Well good for them. Personally, I thought having Bush speak at the convention was a strange idea given that only 30% of respondents answered “approve” to the question “Do you approve or disapprove of the way George W. Bush is handling his job as president?” (CNN/Opinion Research poll for Aug 23-24). I suppose you can’t go against the fact that he is the Republican party leader, but in an election where so many people aren’t too fond of Bush you’d think he’d be one of the last people you want giving a speech in prime time.

It’ll be interesting to see how the GOP Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota fills in those spots. It may end up not being a big deal if Hurricane Gustav slams into the Gulf Coast, especially New Orleans. There’s a lot riding on how the administration handles the aftermath of the storm, amplified by the fact that Katrina and the FEMA debacle from three years ago is fresh in everyone’s mind. At least it seems New Orleans is more on top of things now than in 2005.

On a marginally related side-note, I find it amusing that Dr. James Dobson’s “Focus on the Family” group prayed for rain in Denver the night of Barack Obama’s acceptance speech at Invesco Field/Mile-High Stadium. God must have a great, but twisted, sense of humor (or be a registered Democrat) because not only was it a great night, there’s now a hurricane poised to pillage a swatch of the United States from Mississippi to Texas the day the GOP gets together for their convention at the other end of the Mississippi River.