A recent Battleground Poll indicates that most people believe there should be restrictions on abortion. Here’s the question and the responses:
What is your personal feeling about abortion? (1) It should be permitted in all cases. (2) It should be permitted, but subject to greater restrictions than it is now. (3) It should be permitted only in cases such as rape, incest and to save the woman’s life. OR, (4) It should only be permitted to save the woman’s life?
N=608 100%
Permitted in all cases 162 26.6%
Permitted, but with greater restrictions 100 16.5%
Permitted only in cases such as rape, incest, to save the woman’s life 166 27.2%
Only permitted to save the woman’s life 97 15.9%
Never 31 5.1%
Don’t know/refused 53 8.7%
So it’s clearly a large majority who wants to put restrictions on abortion. Yet, if you ask people the question about overturning Roe V. Wade you get a much worse response because people don’t understand that to restrict abortion in any meaningful way you first have to overturn Roe V. Wade. Roe which made abortion a right so the legislature could not act meaningfully against it.
I think a lot of educating needs to be done so that people understand overturning Roe doesn’t make abortion illegal but it makes it possible for the people just to vote on restrictions. That’s something we need to make people understand. It will take a lot of money and effort to make any headway in that education process.
It’s ironic that an issue which inspire so much passion has left people so uneducated. I was speaking to a person at a party recently who is a pro-life Catholic and they were shocked when I told them that abortion was perfectly legal for all nine months of pregnancy. In fact, they didn’t believe me at all. They said they were going to go home to look it up on the Internet.
And here’s the other thing. Our conversation was forcibly stopped by people who, when they heard we were talking about abortion, jumped in and said we weren’t allowed to continue talking about religion or politics. I said we were speaking about neither but they didn’t care. I was given the look that says, “We don’t discuss abortion in public.”
The media won’t talk about it even though it is the biggest political issue of our time. They’ll never show pictures of it. Discussing it is forbidden and yet so many people don’t understand it. This leaves us in a bit of a ditch. We have a lot of work to do on this but I ask you to not allow yourself to be silenced. Keep discussing it. Keep making people think about it.
September 22, 2008 at 3:09 am
Unfortunately, the ostensibly pro-life party isn’t willing to make this argument.
They’ll argue for tax cuts, and explain what good they do. They’ll explain why we should go to war, and what’s at stake.
But they won’t make the argument for overturning Roe.
September 22, 2008 at 4:51 am
They won’t make the argument for overturning Roe because although they’re supposedly pro-life any close association with the likes of devout Catholics will be avoided. IMHO this is an effort to appear “middle-of-the-road” and garner greater voter support among faux intellectuals who view most prolifers as mentally defecient.
Unfortunately the time for sitting on the fence is over. The GOP needs to be told, “You’re either for killing babies or you’re not. Lead, follow or get the hell out of the way.”
September 22, 2008 at 4:50 pm
The only way a lie can survive is for knowledge of the truth to be suppressed. Forcibly, if necessary, although peer pressure has done the job so far.
September 22, 2008 at 6:46 pm
What kind of party hosts tell you what you can discuss and what you can’t…forcibly? Yikes.
As for getting the word out, at least to Catholics, we need to start with the Bishops. Educate them as to what Roe V Wade says, and what it means. Then they can explain to their priests and parishioners, just as many have done with letters/videos about the Marriage Amendments and other issues. Get something up on YouTube. Maybe the Bishops could ask bloggers to post things.
September 22, 2008 at 7:51 pm
This is an issue that has weighed heavily on my heart for some time, even more so during this election. A friend told me about the 40 Days for Life campaign, and now I find myself quite involved in our local effort. It begins this Wednesday in over 170 cities nationwide. I encourage all to visit their website to learn more about how prayer, fasting and community outreach has already saved lives and changed hearts. God willing, this will continue to happen with this campaign as well.
40DaysforLife.com
I bet an enthusiastic two-thumbs up from the Archbolds wouldn’t hurt either 🙂
BTW, an e-mail I received this morning said that our local campaign (which hasn’t even started yet) has already had a very positive impact on our Bishop – and believe me, that is jaw-dropping and awe-inspiring all at the same time! Let’s just say, in charity, that this Bishop has not been a strong public defender of life. Enough said…
September 22, 2008 at 9:50 pm
Government of the people, by the people, for the people.
is now:
Rule over the people that the we deem worthy to live, by us and our agreeable special friends, for us and our benefit.
Heil Obama
September 23, 2008 at 1:47 pm
Make no mistake, we are engaged in a war – for life, for protection of innocent noncombatants, for the very soul of our country. Not to mention for souls who may very well be lost as a result of abortion. “In war, truth is the first casualty,” as Aeschylus so accurately noted. This is what we are seeing here. So long as the pro-death camp obfuscates the truth of abortion, there will be no concerted offensive against the unlimited slaughter of millions. Onward, Christian soldiers!
September 23, 2008 at 6:19 pm
Two comments
1) The Bishops Conference did run a media campaign some time ago called the “Second Look Project”. Those materials might be helpful when talking with Catholics who don’t realize how far Roe goes.
2) important item:
If you believe that doctors and nurses should never be forced into doing abortions, please contact the Department of Health and Human Services with your comments. They have proposed regulations that will give more protection to health care workers, so that they won’t be forced to do unethical procedures. We want the regulations to go into effect. Pro-abortion forces are contacting them in great number to object to the regulations, and there are only a few more days during which the HHS is accepting more comments. Click here for more details on how to express your support of these regulations.
Another option if you are short on time is to click here for a pre-written letter. This option literally takes only a minute. It will also subscribe you to future alerts from the Family Research Council, which you can unsubscribe from at any time.
More info, from the Bishops:
USCCB Applauds Proposed Conscience Regulations From HHS
Please make your voice heard to protect doctors and nurses from being forced to participate in abortions.