Who Says These are Moral Values?

With eight of the nine United States Supreme Court justices over 65, and one seriously ill with cancer, the recantation of the historical Roe v. Wade precedent is an imminent threat. The United States may soon reach a turning point, a point where the very social convictions of the country will be tested legislatively. However, sadly, the actions taken recently by the Democratic Party signify, once again, the concession of morality lingo to the Republicans. The anti-choice acclamation by Hilary Clinton in a recent speech, calling abortion “a sad, even tragic choice by many”, the claims that the Democratic Party needs to make room for “pro-life” politicians by Howard Dean, and the action of the anti-choice minority leader Harry Reid indicate a shifting mentality within the Democratic Party.

To defend a woman’s right to choose, the Democratic Party will need to remain unified, resolute, and assertive. When will we learn that by taking the middle road, once again, the we will cede valuable real estate to the Republican lexicon; this time, the phrase “moral values”. It makes sense to remain ideologically assertive in a more tangible light as well: pro-choice is a stance taken by a majority of Americans and even most Republicans, let’s continue to sponsor this stance.

A more strategic move by the Democratic Party would be the exposure of moral value hypocrisy. Anti-choice advocates may believe in the ‘rights of the fetus’ but, ironically, they believe very little in the rights of the mother nurturing the fetus or the baby which grows from it. Mississippi, which has all but banned abortion through harsh restrictions and the mandatory termination of all but one abortion clinic, suffers from the highest infant mortality rate and second highest child poverty rate in the nation. In general, states that restrict abortion also spend far less per-child on foster care, education, and welfare programs, indicating a general indifference to the rights of the child which grows from the fetus. Furthermore, the women in anti-choice states suffer from higher levels of poverty, lower levels of education, and larger gender gaps in earning, so much for the mother which nurtures the fetus.

Not so paradoxically, the anti-abortion and abstinence idealism doesn’t translate into lower pregnancy rates. Instead, quite the opposite is the case. Mississippi, having the unequivocal distinction as the worst state for women’s rights, has the third highest teen pregnancy rates in the country while, Texas, a state boasting abstinence only health textbooks, has the number one highest teen pregnancy rates in the country. Abstinence only programs, though proven ineffectual, have received almost 400 million in tax dollars since 2002, while HIV rates have been increasing among gay men, minorities, and drug users. The protection of liberty and the preservation of life…now those are the moral values that I support.