2 1 4 1 0 49 0 OP M Economist com i Speqql acdis dtgisn STATE UHITETI Lexirgton A life and choice matter Apr 29th 2004 print edition FromThe Economist provides some intriguing lessons about American politics an were seen as cranks Pro lifevigilantesmurderedabortiondoctors firebombed insult underthe sun at the Clintons who were busy extendingabortionrights Page 1 of 3 Economist com zl4lo9 4 oo pM Todaythe pictureis very different In 2003 a surveyof collegefreshmenby the Universityof California LosAngeles showedthat only 55o oof them thoughtthat abortionsshouldbe legal down from 670 o in 1992 Last November when GeorgeBush signeda law banningpartial birthaboition this first federal restrictionon abortionfor 30 years passedthe Senateby a lopsidedmajorityof 64 34 The most obviousreasonfor the changeis that pro lifershave capturedthe politicalestablishment Republicans controlall three branchesof the federalgovernmentas well as a majorityof seats in state legislatures The party is also much more hostileto abortionthan it has ever been before There are a few pro choiceRepublicans left Arnold Schwarzenegger and Colinpowell for instance but their n u m b e r sa r e i n s h a r pd e c l i n e The pro lifershave also got a lot cannier You don t needto be all that cleverto realisethat shooting peoplein the name of life is a losingstrategy even if you justify it on the grounds that quitea number of babies liveswill be saved as Don Treshman the leaderof i escueAmerica once did That rhetoricis now soft pedalled Eventhoughthe pro lifers long termgoal remainsthe same the repeal of Roev Wade they have attackedby stealthratherthan full fronlalassault The pro lifemovementhas shiftedthe debatefrom a lofty widelysupportedprinciple should women have the right to choose to much more specificquestions Do women have a right to abort their fetusesin the third trimester Can an underagegiil have an abortionwithout heiparents consent Shouldtaxpayers money be usedto financeaboitions Thesetacticshave made the pro choicepeople look like extremists defendingpartial birthabortionis a lot harderthan defendingthe principle of choice The tacticshave also allowedstate legislatures to imposeumpteenrestrictionson abortion such as waitingperiods Medicaidbans and parentll consentlaws In the meantime the pro lifershave triedto changethe culturethat underpinsRoe v Wade George Bushhas remarkedthat he doesn tthink that the culturehas changedto the extent that the American peopleor the Congresswould totally ban abortions But conservatives are still havingsome successin this slow motionculturewar FrancesKissling a long timepro choiceactivist admits that it is much easierfor peopleto see themselvesas pro life than it was a decadeago thanks to advances in neo adoption natalcare improvementsin sonogramsand the increasingpopularityof All this has requireda remarkablecombinationof patienceand opportunism The pro lifemovement has graduallyconstructeda networkof institutions from JamesDobson sFocuson the Familybehemothin ColoradoSpringsto tiny think tanksin most state capitals that keep the anti abortionfires burningand spot mistakesby their opponents WilliamSaletan the authorof BearingRight How Conservatives Won the AbortionWar Universityof CaliforniaPress 2003 describeshow the pro lifersused the prochoicers argumentsabout limitinggovernmentintrusioninto people sprivatelivesto undermine the case for publicsubsidiesfor abortionsfor the poor To the barricades Yet things are not all goingthe pro lifers way The numberof marchersthis weekendis a sign of the roadblockbeingerectedin front of the slowlyadvancingconservativemachine Indeed conservatives may yet regretthat they have not beenstealthyenoughand have stirred up opposition that will cost them dear The marcherswere united by a palpablehatredof the Bush administration AbortBush i in i the first term read a typicalbanner Pro choice groupsare alreadyplanninga massivevoter turnout 1 campaignfor this November sgeneralelection I And this roadblockis beingerectedat a time when the pro lifersare still far from their real target They t l j d d in charigingabortionpolicyat the margins particutartythe marginsinhabited by i lliy liY tl poor But the thing that reallyupsetsthem the constitutional right foi women to have abortionsI support And for conservatives this seemspart or a worryingpatternin domestic I il toTT ldt solid pollcy Right wingers have succeededonly in implementingthe easy part of their idear cuttingtaxes I I I h t t p w w w e c o n o m i s t c o m w o r l d u n i t e d s t a t e s p r i n t e r F r i e n d l y c f m s t o rzy zigdo L o I tL I p a g e2 o f 3 2 1 4 1 0 94 O OP M Economist com up in arms Just ratherthan shrinkinggovernmeht for example and yet half the nationis nevertheless imaginethe outcry if conservatives start trying to implementthe difficultthings like banningabortion completely Copyright O 2009 The EconomistNewspaperand The EconomistGroup All rights reserved http 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