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Conservatives might be tempted to defend the federalization of criminal law based on such cases: See! The state law couldn't cut it. To get justice, sometimes people have to go to the feds. Resist the temptation. The problems with restrictive Maryland law only prove that Maryland law should be fixed, not that the feds should get involved. To go that route justifies the increasing federal involvement in all criminal areas and does violence to the founders' vision.

The Unborn Victims of Violence Act is benign enough that it might not matter much in grand scheme of Leviathan's bulging girth. It only adds greater penalty to existing federal criminal law, but it is part of a growing move to softly swaddle the republic in ever-tightening strands of federal control.

During the Clinton years, calls for more federal crimes were more frequent than reports of the president's infidelities. Black churches burn down, and suddenly state arson laws aren't enough; we need federal laws. A gay man is brutally murdered, and suddenly the state homicide law doesn't count; we need federal anti-hate statutes (never mind that a state law against murder is implicitly an anti-hate law; murder isn't nice). Such laws went beyond the constitutional pale and should have been opposed.

They were. But the trouble is, as dissenters turn proponents, even for well-meaning causes, they hack away at their own legitimacy to stand astride the next federal intrusion when it comes barreling into town, sideswiping constitutional principles all the way.

Our only defense will be in the unconvincing claim that our violations of the national charter are better for the country than the other guy's.

Joel Miller (jmiller@wnd.com) is senior editor of WND Books.

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