Other Brownlow
Articles:

The Department of Homeland Control

Can America Awake From The Dream World?

Partial Abortion Ban - The Betrayal Is Now Complete

By David Brownlow
September 25, 2003
NewsWithViews.com

After 30 years of empty promises by pro-life leaders in the U.S. Congress, it came as no surprise that they would pass a completely meaningless ban on a barbaric and indefensible method of child killing known as the "partial birth abortion." Senate Bill S.3 and House Bill HR 760 provide iron clad proof that it is impossible to spend decades voting for the "lesser of two evils," and end up with anything but evil.

It does look like the Senate and the House will work out the language in their respective bills and send it on for President Bush to sign. Unfortunately, there appears to be no argument on the key wording of the actual "ban."

Both of these bills allow a "doctor" to kill a child during the very process of birth until, "in the case of a head-first presentation, the entire fetal head is outside the body of the mother." Or "in the case of breech presentation", the child should be killed before "any part of the fetal trunk past the navel is outside the body of the mother". (Actual text of S.3 and HR 760 in quotes)

That is not a ban. Those are targeting coordinates, plain and simple. The abortionists may be cunning, but they are certainly not stupid. This will not even slow them down.

A law that only protects a child in the last ten seconds of a nine-month pregnancy is a total fraud. It is hard to imagine how anyone could even write a law that would provide fewer restrictions on the legal killing of a human being. As such, it is highly unlikely that even one single child will be saved using the language of this "ban."

In a somewhat stunning setback for the cause of the unborn, while the pro-life members of the U.S. House managed to simply pass a meaningless piece of pro-life legislation, the "pro-life" members of the U.S. Senate have taken betrayal to a whole new level.

Most in the pro-life community chose to ignore the poison that was slipped into Section 4 of the March 2003 Senate version of the "ban." As part of S.3, 48 Republicans and 16 Democrats voted to approve the "Sense of the Senate Concerning Roe v. Wade," which says,

(a) FINDINGS- The Senate finds that--

(1) abortion has been a legal and constitutionally protected medical procedure throughout the United States since the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade (410 U.S. 113 (1973)); and
(2) the 1973 Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade established constitutionally based limits on the power of States to restrict the right of a woman to choose to terminate a pregnancy.

(b) SENSE OF THE SENATE- It is the sense of the Senate that--

(1) the decision of the Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade (410 U.S. 113 (1973)) was appropriate and secures an important constitutional right; and
(2) such decision should not be overturned.

That has to be one of the most unbelievable and disturbing things I have ever read. We could expect something like that from the life-haters in the Senate, but to have that signed by every Republican Senator who ever told us they were pro-life, is simply amazing! We have spent 30 years supporting "pro-life" Republicans, and this is what we get? What a tragedy.

Republican apologists were quick to make excuses for the betrayal when it was first uncovered. The typical response from "pro-life" leaders was that "the mean ole Democrats stuck that in the bill," or this was "merely a procedural vote," which would be "negotiated away" when the House and Senate worked out a compromise.

It turns out that those guys sold us down the river.

The Betrayal Continues

If there was ever any doubt about the true intentions of the U.S. Senate regarding Roe v. Wade, they made it perfectly clear last week. On September 17, in a unanimous 93-0 vote, the Senate passed a motion "To Disagree To The Amendment of The House To S.3." Which was essentially a stern rebuke of the House for removing the Roe v. Wade reaffirmation language in the House version of the bill.

Again, the Republican apologists tried to say that a unanimous vote in support of Roe v. Wade does not mean what it says. I have emailed a number of pro-life leaders about this betrayal and this is typical of the response I got back:

"Pro-life lawmakers voted for this because it moves the process forward. Everyone knows the pro-Roe amendment will be removed in conference committee. Had this vote not occurred, the entire bill would have died." (Quote from an unnamed national pro-life leader)

Forgive me for sounding a bit old fashioned, but when a man signs his name on a piece of paper, it is supposed to mean something. Now we are being told that is okay to sign not just once, but twice, a despicable declaration that says the killing of 44,000,000 American children was "appropriate," and should continue. Unbelievable!

This bill needs to die for a number of reasons:

1. It is a complete fraud.
2. It won't save any lives.
3. The signatures of the "pro-life" Republicans who voted to reaffirm Roe v. Wade will permanently stain the Congressional Record.
4. It will give political cover to the phony "pro-lifers" in Congress ("Hey, I'm pro-life, I voted for your ban.")
5. It will give the Congress an excuse not to pass a real pro-life bill such as an Article 3 reversal of Roe v. Wade, or the inclusion of the unborn in the 5th Amendment definition of a "person."
6. It will give comfort to pro-lifers that something is being done to save children, when in fact nothing is being done. Millions will continue to die when this bill is passed.

Decades of compromise would seem to have dulled the common senses of otherwise intelligent people. Maybe it is because we have become so desperate for even the tiniest shred of a victory that many are willing to accept even such a hollow one as this sorry excuse for an abortion ban.

Another problem we have is that the partial birth abortion ban has been a very effective fundraising tool. Many pro-life organizations have been milking this "ban" for almost a decade, so they cannot very well back away from it now.

But, now that it has been found the "ban" is nothing but a total scam, those that have raised millions by exploiting this issue should return the money to everyone they ripped off. And in the future, true pro-lifers should refuse to have anything to do with compromises like the "Partial Birth Abortion Ban."

As long we allow our efforts to be diverted by a ten-year debate over the location of a child's head prior to an execution, we will never begin to deal with the core issue - that our own government is the chief sponsor and protector of a legalized child killing industry that has murdered 44,000,000 Americans.

Dave Brownlow, an engineer, has been designing and selling industrial automation control systems since 1979. He lives in Clackamas OR with his wife Suzanne and their four children. Active in the pro-life movement and conservative politics for over 20 years, David ran for US Congress in the 3rd District of Oregon in 2002 on the Constitution Party ticket. He has announced his plans to run again in 2004. His Web-Site www.davebrownlow.com  E-Mail: dave@davebrownlow.com

Home

"A law that only protects a child in the last ten seconds of a nine-month pregnancy is a total fraud. It is hard to imagine how anyone could even write a law that would provide fewer restrictions on the legal killing of a human being."