The Abortion Battle in America

In my front yard, there is a 30-foot oak . The tree is old, diseased, and too close to the house. It's a hazard and I have to get rid of it. So, first thing in the morning, I am going to get a ladder, climb to the top of the tree, and pluck all the leaves I can carry. The next day, I will go get a ladder, climb the tree, and pluck leaves. The day after that, I'll get the ladder...

I am never going to get rid of that tree by pulling leaves.

In 1973, Rove v. Wade moved abortion to the front-lines of America's political conscience. It moved to the front and stayed there. Thirty-five years later, we are no closer to resolving to this issue. The "pro-life" movement has been plucking legal leaves. Some anti-abortion activists have so focused on overturning this legal ruling that they have forgotten the goal of the fight. Stop abortions.

The law is one very small component in the abortion fight. Legal victories have had little effect on the number of abortion performed in this country. The Heritage Foundation analyzed abortion data in states that have enacted restrictive abortion laws. They studied four major areas of legislation: parental consent, Medicaid funding restrictions, informed consent, and partial birth abortion prohibitions.[1] Only Medicare funding restrictions had any statistically significant effect on the state's abortion rates.

Consider the effect of the recent Supreme Court ruling on partial birth abortion.[2] Pro-life legalists wasted fifteen-years to obtain a handful of leaves. This pro-life ruling will not prevent one abortion. This law delineates the acceptable location of the abortion. A doctor may dismember the child in the upper section of birth canal but not the lower. It does not deter legal abortion; it defines legal abortion. Someone forgot the goal.