WAR ON BABIES

Abraham Lincoln was not an abolitionist. When he ran for President in 1860 he was what we would have called a moderate. Personally against slavery, opposed to extending it into new territories, but willing to let the old south keep their slaves.

Still, if you were an abolitionist in 1860 you were a Republican, and you voted for Lincoln. The Democrats were less than moderate. They would extend slavery all the way to the Pacific Ocean.

The election of 2012 is shaping up to be much the same as 1860.

Barack Obama’s people have argued that the Republican Party has declared war on women. They have adopted birth control, including abortion on demand, as the defining issue in their campaign.

The Democratic Party supports the 5-4 decision in Roe v Wade. The Democratic Party advocates abortion as a woman’s absolute right. On demand. As a means of birth control. Because of expense, inconvenience, embarrassment, revenge, whatever. At any age. For any reason. Or for no reason at all.

The American people never had a chance to vote on Roe v Wade. It was a sweeping, radical, unpopular change in the social mores of the American people dictated by a one vote majority in the Supreme Court.

Like the Dred Scot decision that led to the Civil War, Roe V Wade decided that the unborn were not human beings, not entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Not protected by our Constitution.

It looks like the 2012 election may become a referendum on Roe v Wade.

If you are pro life, you vote Republican. If you are pro abortion, you vote Democrat.
All the Republican candidates are pro life. Santorum enthusiastically. Gingrich politically. Romney pragmatically.

Their opponent, Barack Obama, is on record as favoring abortion, early, late, and even after a baby survives the procedure.

But wait a minute, you say.

You thought that 2012 was all about the economy. Fifteen trillion in public debt. Annual deficits running into the trillions. Unemployment. Recession. Bail outs. Stimulus. Entitlements. Health care.

Uh-uh.

The economy is just a symptom. It’s the sniffles. It’s not the cold.

The real issue is growth or decline.

Fifty million babies have been aborted in America since 1973. Fifty million. That's about the population of California and Pennsylvania together.

After World War II, we had a baby boom in America. The economy flourished. We needed more cribs, more schools, more cars, more houses. Because we had more people.

We were a young nation. Focused on the future. Optimistic. Energetic. They were boom times.

Today we are hunkering down. Worried about the end game. Saving for retirement. It’s all about keeping. Protecting. Hording. What matters is me. What I have. What I want. The last thing in the world the Me Generation wants is a dependent. Another human being to think about. Care for. Worry about. Share with. Work for. Or Love.

There will be more debates this year. Big debates. Presidential debates, with much hype, huge audiences, interminable analysis and commentary.

But I wonder if the real issue will ever be debated. Really debated. I wonder if anyone will ever ask the fundamental question of whether the people of the every state do or do not have the right and the power to make laws protecting the lives of unborn children.

Whether America is a shrinking, declining society, intent on enjoying the here and now. Or are we still a young, vibrant, robust nation whose best days are yet to dawn.