Monday, March 6, 2006

Exceptions break the rule.

AFP reports that President George W. Bush has criticized the proposed ban on abortion in South Dakota, which does not allow for abortion in the cases of incest or rape. Bush is quoted as saying, "that, of course, is a state law, but my position has always been three exceptions: Rape, incest, and the life of the mother." Judie Brown comments on her blog.

I find it the President's statement unfortunate. President Bush would have been better off making a noncommittal statement in support of criminalizing abortion or just saying it was South Dakota's decision. For the leader of the Republican Party to be criticizing pro-life legislation does not help the cause.

I hope the President was not trying to set himself apart as "moderate" in supporting exceptions. In fact, I do not believe this is the case. While I am sure the President's position is somewhat politically influenced, I think President Bush has bought into the emotional argument that abortion should be legal in the so-called "hard cases".

I disagree with the President's position. Abortion should be illegal, period. Reasonable people can differ on the life of the mother exception, but the rape/incest exception should not even be argued among true pro-lifers. Babies should not be executed for the crimes of their fathers. Even though genetic problems exist with incest, I do not believe that justifies actively killing an innocent baby.

Think about it for a minute. If you truly believe an unborn baby is a human being with an inalienable right to life, is that life any less valuable if he or she is the product of violence? It is also possible that there will be an increase of false "rape" charges if that is the only exception to an abortion ban, especially given how ingrained abortion is in our culture.

Pro-lifers should not be dissuaded by arguments that a 100% pro-life position is "extreme". As Barry Goldwater famously said, "extremism in defense of liberty is no vice." A position in defense of all innocent human life is "extreme" only in relation to a culture saturated with the blood of 46 million unborn babies.

Related: The American Life League's position on exceptions.