Forehead Dents the Table...

Thanks in large part to my insomnia, I caught the tail end of the Monday's late night re-run of The Colbert Report on Comedy Central. His guest at the end of the show was Ramesh Ponnuru. Mr. Ponnuru is the author of the book The Party of Death. The book details how the Democratic party now supports the end of human life through having a Pro-Life platform, among other things. The conversation referenced Roe v. Wade, arguing that this decision should not have been made by judges, but by the people, and that the issue wouldn't be as polarizing if it placed some kind of restrictions on the right to choose.

As the title of this post suggests, I will soon need a new table because of all the ignorant anti-liberty neoconservative ranting regarding concepts of freedom that buttress the Constitution. If my head bounces off the table any more, I may have to replace the table. Why is this so absurd?

First and foremost, the Supreme Court declared that women have the right to choose regardless of much gestation time has elapsed. While the cite to Roe is correct, the statement of the law is incorrect. In 1991, the Supreme Court, through Justice O'Connor, reigned in the unlimited right to abortion announced in Roe in the landmark decision Planned Parenthood v. Casey. Casey added the "time restrictions" Mr. Ponnuru suggests the law requires. Currently, the law allows restrictions on the right to choose once a fetus reaches a state of viability. Moreover, the fact that they seem to think that the decision is left to judges is incorrect. Fundamentally, Judges operate as the arbiter of legal disputes between Congress and the rights of the people announced by the supreme law of the land, the Constitution. To denigrate the operation of the judiciary, writing off their role in the governmental system, demonstrates a lack of understanding for the operation of checks and balances, a principle announced by the founders on repeated occasions as a way to provide recourse to the people against abusive legislative or executive government.

If the Democrats are the party of death, the Republicans are the party against personal freedom. The abortion decisions essentially establish a personal right to privacy regarding decisions of procreation, a right properly reserved to the individual. The abortion issue is just as much about keeping laws out of personal and individual decisions regarding family and responsibility As far as I am concerned, the law needs to stay out of the lives of its citizens, and the court need to continue to protect those rights as needed.