Common Ground on Hot Button Issues
Will we ever find common ground on abortion?
American ambivalence based on pragmatism and tolerance
JANE EISNER
Knight Ridder Newspapers
Just when it seems that sanity might be slipping into the endless national debate on abortion, just when it seems that some common ground might be attainable, comes this story:
A Florida girl who has been in state custody since 1998 -- and who has run away repeatedly from her foster care homes -- takes flight again, this time from a state-licensed group home in January. The girl, known only as L.G., becomes pregnant, and after being counseled about her choices, tells her caseworker that she wants an abortion.
She is 13 years old.
And the governor goes to court to try to stop her.
The governor, remember, is Jeb Bush, brother of the president and relentless champion of what he calls "the sanctity of life." He argues that state law prevents his administration from consenting to the abortion, no matter the circumstance.
The court rules that state law does no such thing, and Bush backs down, an uncharacteristic move for a politician who led the fight to intervene in the case of poor Terri Schiavo and has, on another occasion, sought to appoint a guardian for the fetus of a severely retarded rape victim. L.G. reportedly had an abortion May 3. The ramifications, of course, continue.
This sorrowful tale raises a basic question for those who, like Jeb Bush, believe that government should intervene to prevent the termination of a pregnancy: Will there ever be a time or circumstance when an abortion "is permitted?
If not for a 13-year-old girl with no family and no home, then when? If not for a severely retarded rape victim, then when?
Click here to read the rest of the story from the Charlotte Observer (.com).
Registration is free, but req'd.
American ambivalence based on pragmatism and tolerance
JANE EISNER
Knight Ridder Newspapers
Just when it seems that sanity might be slipping into the endless national debate on abortion, just when it seems that some common ground might be attainable, comes this story:
A Florida girl who has been in state custody since 1998 -- and who has run away repeatedly from her foster care homes -- takes flight again, this time from a state-licensed group home in January. The girl, known only as L.G., becomes pregnant, and after being counseled about her choices, tells her caseworker that she wants an abortion.
She is 13 years old.
And the governor goes to court to try to stop her.
The governor, remember, is Jeb Bush, brother of the president and relentless champion of what he calls "the sanctity of life." He argues that state law prevents his administration from consenting to the abortion, no matter the circumstance.
The court rules that state law does no such thing, and Bush backs down, an uncharacteristic move for a politician who led the fight to intervene in the case of poor Terri Schiavo and has, on another occasion, sought to appoint a guardian for the fetus of a severely retarded rape victim. L.G. reportedly had an abortion May 3. The ramifications, of course, continue.
This sorrowful tale raises a basic question for those who, like Jeb Bush, believe that government should intervene to prevent the termination of a pregnancy: Will there ever be a time or circumstance when an abortion "is permitted?
If not for a 13-year-old girl with no family and no home, then when? If not for a severely retarded rape victim, then when?
Click here to read the rest of the story from the Charlotte Observer (.com).
Registration is free, but req'd.
posted by benny06 at
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
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1 comments
