Opinion Pieces Comment On Abortion, Presidential Election

Main Category: Abortion
Article Date: 27 Aug 2008 - 7:00 PDT

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Several newspapers recently published opinion pieces about abortion and the presidential election. Summaries appear below.

~ Christine Flowers, Philadelphia Daily News: Although Sen. Bob Casey (D-Penn.), who opposes abortion rights, is speaking at the Democratic National Convention this week, the party's new platform on abortion reveals "just how entrenched pro-abortion sentiment still is" in the Democratic party, columnist Flowers writes in a Daily News opinion piece. Casey "has his work cut out for him if he expects to find a sympathetic ear in Denver," Flowers writes, adding that the Democratic party is "more intent than ever" on protecting Roe v. Wade and "extending" the case's protections in the future. According to Flowers, the Democratic party has "become even more radical in [its] devotion to Roe" (Flowers, Philadelphia Daily News, 8/22).

~ Robyn Blumner, St. Petersburg Times: "We are almost certainly one U.S. Supreme Court justice away from Roe being consigned to the dustbin of history," columnist Blumner writes in a Times opinion piece. Blumner writes that if Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) is elected, he "promises to be the one" to overturn Roe "by picking justices who will do the deed." According to Blumner, if an embryo "were imbued with 14th Amendment rights to life, liberty and property," in vitro fertilization and embryonic stem cell research also would be prohibited, which contradicts McCain's stance that would allow federal funding for embryonic stem cell research "in narrow circumstances." Republican voters who support abortion rights are "deluding themselves if they think Roe is eternal no matter who wins the White House," Blumner writes, concluding, "If McCain is president, he promises to grant human rights to microscopic cells, and he very well may succeed" (Blumner, St. Petersburg Times, 8/24).

~ William McGurn, Wall Street Journal: Although the Democratic Party recently revised its platform on abortion, when "it comes to explaining this position and defending this record," Obama's "eloquence seems to abandon him," columnist McGurn writes. Abortion-rights opponent Sen. Robert Casey's (D-Pa.) speech at the Democratic National Convention in Denver on Tuesday is intended to defend Obama's position on abortion, and Democrats hope Casey's speech will "persuade pro-lifers that the Democratic Party has changed," McGurn writes, adding that it is "equally likely that the discussion itself will only highlight how absolutist the party remains" (McGurn, Wall Street Journal, 8/26).

~ Kathleen Parker, Washington Post: "Abortion is back with, dare we say it, biblical vengeance" as Republicans are focusing on Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama's (Ill.) votes on abortion-related legislation while serving as an Illinois state senator, columnist Parker writes in a Post opinion piece. The abortion issue has become Obama's "kryptonite," and his campaign, which "seemed helium-propelled," is now "being pulled back down to Earth by the force of his own vagueness," Parker writes. She adds that "Obama's current problem isn't really about his position on abortion. It is about his central weakness as a presidential candidate: He overthinks and ends up seeming not to know what he thinks." Voters will "tolerate a flip-flop now and then" about abortion, but a politician who "finesses or fudges" in an attempt to make voters happy "will be viewed as spineless or insecure or both -- none of which inspires confidence," Parker writes (Parker, Washington Post, 8/24).

~ Jeffrey Kuhner, Washington Times: "Abortion is the seminal issue of our time," and "no other domestic issue ... comes close to rivaling it in importance," columnist Kuhner writes in a Times opinion piece. The "pro-life movement is on the verge of achieving the unthinkable: repealing Roe v. Wade," according to Kuhner, who adds that McCain "vows to win this battle over life and death," promising to appoint conservative justices to the Supreme Court if elected. "Now is the time for the forces of civilization to take their stand," he concludes (Kuhner, Washington Times, 8/24).

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