It is apparent that the culture of death is intensifying its stranglehold on the culture.
This week, a federal judge ruled that the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, or PABA, which was signed into law by President Bush last November, is unconstitutional. President Bush’s signing of this important law came after Congress overwhelmingly passed the legislation. But since its signing, the PABA has been the target of hysterical abortion-rights groups that want absolutely no limitations on that disingenuous catchphrase – “a woman’s right to choose.”
Furthermore, a British study has revealed that growing numbers of women are becoming so calloused in terms of abortion that they are choosing to abort their unborn children simply because they are discovered to have medical problems such as Down’s syndrome, malformed feet and even cleft lips/palates. The culture of abortion has brought about a sense of designer fashion in terms of unborn babies; if the baby doesn’t fit the parent’s desires, it is cast off like an out-of-style suit.
The PABA
This week, federal Judge Phyllis Hamilton predictably fell in line with the radical abortion-rights community when she ruled that the PABA establishes an “undue burden” on women seeking abortion. The Clinton appointee said the PABA is “unconstitutionally vague” because it does not include a health exception for women seeking a partial-birth abortion. Her ruling protects for now 900 Planned Parenthood clinics that carry out such abortions.
Abortion-rights supporters want women to have the unregulated ability to determine that they need an abortion. A health exception in terms of partial-birth abortion allows doctors to formulate any number of trumped up reasons to call for abortion for a patient wanting one. A so-called health exemption would essentially render powerless the partial-birth abortion ban.
Following Judge Hamilton’s PABA ruling, Wendy Wright, senior policy director for Concerned Women for America said the judge was “pre-disposed” to such a ruling. She also noted that the American Medical Association has said this especially barbaric type of abortion procedure is never medically necessary.
She said, “Judge Hamilton did not allow key, relevant testimony such as the pain felt by unborn babies and records that would prove that partial-birth abortions are never medically necessary.”
Roberta Combs, president of Christian Coalition, added that “judicial tyranny” was responsible for the ruling. Identifying the leftist agenda of this judge, she highlighted the fact that Judge Hamilton “is the same judge who (last year) allowed a San Francisco-area school district to force school children into ‘becoming Muslims’ for two weeks as part of their world history unit on Islam.”
Radical judicial activists like Judge Hamilton are imposing their own views of America on the nation. It is apparent that their perspectives on life and liberty are far different than most Americans, and certainly poles apart from our founders’ beliefs.
Witnessing these types of irrational rulings makes clear the importance of electing a pro-life president who will place responsible judges on our federal courts. I believe that a vote for a presidential candidate who favors abortion rights is an outright betrayal of the unborn.
Abortion and the disabled
According to 2002 statistics recently released by the Office for National Statistics in England and Wales, handicapped children in the womb are facing the increasing risk of abortion. The organization found that abortion of Down’s syndrome babies elevated 17 percent, from 690 in 2002 over 591 in 2001. In fact, the study found that more Down’s babies were actually aborted in 2002 than those that were born with the disease.
Nuala Scarisbrick of the British pro-life group LIFE said these increases in abortion statistics are troubling, especially to people who are living fulfilled lives despite their disabilities.
“The message is being sent out to disabled people that they should not have been born,” Ms. Scarisbrick said in a statement published on The Drudge Report.
Learning of this report caused me to recall the book “Another Season” by renowned football coach Gene Stallings who recounted the unexpected blessings that came into his life through the life of his son Johnny, who has Down’s syndrome. In addition, as a minister of a large church, I can frankly report that I am aware of countless parents who say they would not change a thing about their children born with disabilities.
The permissive culture of death has made it acceptable to simply kill off an unborn baby that requires additional attention. What a tragically selfish perspective on life this is.
What can be done?
The most important thing that can be done is for pro-life Americans to get off of their couches and out of their church pews in order to become pro-active in terms of speaking out for the unborn.
Volunteer in a local home for unborn mothers, start a church-based pro-life organization, bring pro-life speakers into area schools, call your lawmakers to encourage them to vote for pro-life legislation. And most importantly, vote only for legislators and national leaders who revere life for the unborn. Let’s join together to take the momentum away from those who have contempt for the unborn!
