CLAWING BACK UP THE SLIPPERY SLOPE (via Buttercup):

President Bush Signs Ban on Partial Birth Abortion (The Ronald Reagan Building, Washington, D.C., 11/05/03)

Each year, thousands of partial birth abortions are committed. As Doctor C. Everett Koop, the pediatrician and former Surgeon General has pointed out, the majority of partial birth abortions are not required by medical emergency. As Congress has found, the practice is widely regarded within the medical profession as unnecessary, not only cruel to the child, but harmful to the mother, and a violation of medical ethics.

The facts about partial birth abortion are troubling and tragic, and no lawyer's brief can make them seem otherwise. By acting to prevent this practice, the elected branches of our government have affirmed a basic standard of humanity, the duty of the strong to protect the weak. The wide agreement amongst men and women on this issue, regardless of political party, shows that bitterness in political debate can be overcome by compassion and the power of conscience. And the executive branch will vigorously defend this law against any who would try to overturn it in the courts.

America stands for liberty, for the pursuit of happiness and for the unalienable right of life. And the most basic duty of government is to defend the life of the innocent. Every person, however frail or vulnerable, has a place and a purpose in this world. Every person has a special dignity. This right to life cannot be granted or denied by government, because it does not come from government, it comes from the Creator of life.

In the debate about the rights of the unborn, we are asked to broaden the circle of our moral concern. We're asked to live out our calling as Americans. We're asked to honor our own standards, announced on the day of our founding in the Declaration of Independence. We're asked by our convictions and tradition and compassion to build a culture of life, and make this a more just and welcoming society. And today, we welcome vulnerable children into the care and protection of Americans.

The late Pennsylvania Governor Robert Casey once said that: when we look to the unborn child, the real issue is not when life begins, but when love begins. This is the generous and merciful spirit of our country at its best. This spirit is reflected in the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003, which I am now honored to sign into law. God bless.

It's easy to overlook how unlikely a moment this is in the life of a nation, even ours. When Ronald Reagan ran for president in 1980 he was spoken of as unelectable because he opposed abortion. At that point, even the last two Republican Presidents (Nixon and Ford), and Jimmy Carter, putatively a born-again Christian, were all pro-abortion-- as was Mr. Reagan's main rival for the nomination: George H. W. Bush. The skids looked to be well greased.

Yet here we are, twenty five years later and the tide is turning, perceptibly, if not quickly. America's innately Puritanical morality once again proves harder to shake than anyone would have thought. It's a rare and wonderful thing.

MORE:
How a Cause Was Born: Ronald Reagan, father of the pro-life movement. (FRED BARNES, November 6, 2003, Wall Street Journal)

Yesterday's rollback--indeed the rise of the pro-life movement across the country-- would not have occurred except for one thing. That was the embrace by conservatives of the antiabortion cause and the belated conversion of one conservative in particular, Ronald Reagan. Once this happened, opposition to abortion became a top priority of conservatism's chief political vehicle, the Republican Party. Now, says Republican Congressman Henry Hyde, "it's the issue that won't go away."

Not in America anyway. Outside the United States, serious opposition to abortion is rare. Conservatives world-wide tend to agree on limited government, low taxes, respect for traditional values and strong law enforcement. But a commitment to protecting unborn children is unique to American conservatism.

Even here, full-throated conservative opposition to abortion is a relatively recent phenomenon. By the time Roe v. Wade was decided 30 years ago, 18 states had already liberalized their abortion laws. The opposition came mostly from the Catholic Church and assorted Protestant evangelicals, not from conservative leaders. There was no national campaign, as there is today, to rally the pro-life forces, stage marches, pressure politicians and gain favorable publicity.

The most telling example of conservative indifference to the abortion issue occurred in California. In 1967, then-Gov. Ronald Reagan signed a bill that virtually decriminalized abortion.

Posted by Orrin Judd at November 5, 2003 9:48 PM