As Morally Serious as Root Canal

May 25, 2010
By Mona Charen

Excerpt:
Though the pro-life position continues to be characterized by the press as marginal, it has in fact become the majority view. A 2009 Gallup poll found that 51 percent of Americans described themselves as "pro-life" versus 45 percent saying they are "pro-choice." This year's poll saw some narrowing, but with the pro-life position still outnumbering pro-choice. Only 38 percent of respondents said abortion was "morally acceptable." The poll also found that young people, ages 18 to 29, were much more likely to say that they oppose abortion in all circumstances today than a decade ago (one in four, versus one in seven). National Abortion Rights Action League president Nancy Keenan has noticed this collapse of support among the young, even referring to herself and her contemporaries as the "postmenopausal militia."

Partisans among the press, meanwhile, continue their rear guard actions, making themselves ridiculous with semantic gymnastics. It is not abortion, it's "reproductive choice" or "abortion rights." The New York Times consistently skirts the term "partial birth abortion" as in this story about Sen. Blanche Lincoln: "... Even Emily's List ... joined the pile-on last week, reminding followers that it stopped supporting Mrs. Lincoln ... after she voted to ban a form of late-term abortion in 1999." A form. the rest