Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee haven't heard
the
news that more Americans call themselves pro-life than
pro-choice, according to the Gallup organization.
Yesterday, in a 13-10 vote, every Democrat but one, Senator Kent
Conrad of North Dakota, opposed an amendment to health care
legislation that would have codified a ban on abortion with
exceptions. Conversely, every Republican but one, Senator Olympia
Snowe of Maine, supported the amendment, which was offered by
Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT).
Senator Max Baucus (D-MT), chairman of the committee,
argued that his bill already prohibits abortion with exceptions;
but Senator Hatch aimed to make the restrictions permanent,
rather than being subject to annual debate and vote in funding
bills.
As disappointing as this was, even more so was a similar
vote against a conscience clause provision protecting health care
personnel who object to abortions on moral grounds.
Gertrude Himmelfarb, Irving Kristol's widow, wrote an
insightful book entitled, One Nation, Two
Cultures (1999). Seeing an almost perfect
party-line vote on issues which, on their face, should not be
partisan matters, i.e., the humanity and protection of unborn
children and the rights of conscience, it is apparent that
American politics has now come into alignment with the nation's
underlying cultural dynamic, which exhibits polarization between
a culture of life and another that values personal autonomy to
the exclusion of morality, tradition, and even the right to life
of another human being, albeit one out of sight for nine
months.
It is interesting to speculate what impact, if any, this
vote will have on health care legislation generally. Is it
another straw on a camel's back already weighed down with high
costs, taxes, fear over "rationing," and general concern over the
federal government's role in medicine?
In fairness, the defeat of various public health care
options in recent committee votes may be just another example of
a cultural phenomenon as much as a political one. However, the
matter of a public-plan option is really more of a prudential
issue, one subject to legitimate, if heated, political debate.
But the protection of human life or, at a minimum, the conscience
of those who are being forced to perform abortions against their
wills, should be beyond the Pale.
There is, of course, political utility in forcing the
Democrats to defend the indefensible. The country may be closely
divided on abortion per se, but less so on commandeering tax
dollars to subsidize the practice or violate the conscience of
health care professionals who opt for life. In some jurisdictions
a senator could pay a steep price in the next election. But that
is small comfort for unborn Americans.
topics:
Health Care, Abortion
