John Todorich – 10/5/04

This page was last updated on October 5, 2004.

Bush has failed pro-lifers; John Todorich; Beaver County Times; October 5, 2004.

I don’t know if Mr. Todorich is a “pro-lifer” as he claims, but if he is, he clearly cares more about electing a liberal than he does about protecting unborn children. You will see what I mean below.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“I am a devoted Catholic and a pro-lifer. Many religious groups have portrayed the Bush administration as doing the right thing for trying to overturn Roe vs. Wade.

“This is not so.

“Like many others, I would like to see Roe v. Wade overturned. The Bush administration has had the opportunity to do so. The Republican Party controls the presidency, Congress and the Supreme Court.”

[RWC] I believe Mr. Todorich needs to retake his high school civics class. No party controls the Supreme Court and President Bush has had no opportunity to nominate a Supreme Court justice. Also, there are not enough conservatives on the Court to overturn Roe v. Wade.

“Yet there has not been one piece of legislation offered by the Bush administration during the past 46 months that would overturn Roe v. Wade.

“And we can all be assured that if Bush is re-elected there will not be any legislation offered by his administration to overturn Roe v. Wade in the future.”

[RWC] Since the Supreme Court ruled via Roe v. Wade that abortion bans are unconstitutional, the only legislation that could overturn Roe v. Wade would be a constitutional amendment and the President has no official role in that process. Is an anti-abortion amendment feasible? Remember, an amendment requires a 2/3’s majority in both houses of Congress and requires ratification by 3/4’s of the states. Right off the bat, an anti-abortion amendment would not get close to passing Congress because elected Democrats almost universally embrace abortion and the Republican majorities in Congress are very small. An anti-abortion amendment would certainly fail without broad support from Democrats and everyone knows that won’t happen.

I covered what President Bush hasn’t been able to do, so let’s look at what he has done.

First, he nominates conservative judges who tend to be more likely to overturn Roe v. Wade. That said, Senate Democrats have an abortion “litmus test” nominees must pass if the nomination is for an “influential” appeals court. That is, if a nominee refuses to state that he/she will uphold abortion, Democrats filibuster the nomination in the Judiciary Committee and don’t even let the nomination come up for vote in the full Senate. President Bush twice sidestepped Democrat obstructionism by making two recess appointments, Pickering and Pryor. Eventually, though, the Senate still needs to approve the appointments.

Second, President Bush and Republicans made the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act law in 2002. In summary, the act ensures that every infant born alive - including an infant who survives an abortion procedure - is considered a person under federal law. President Bush signed the act into law in Pittsburgh.

Third, President Bush and Republicans made the partial-birth abortion ban law in 2003. The bill passed despite major opposition by Democrats. In the House, 69% of Democrats voted against the ban and in the Senate it was 65%. Remember, this was a ban on an abortion type even more hideous than the “typical” abortion and only about 1/3 of Democrats in Congress supported the ban. This is further support for my comment above that Democrats would never support an anti-abortion amendment. In the House, 95% of Republicans supported the ban and in the Senate it was 92%.

Fourth, President Bush and Republicans made the Unborn Victims of Violence Act law in 2004. This bill is also known as “Laci and Connor Peterson’s Law.” In summary, the act provides that, under federal law, any person who causes death or injury to a child in the womb shall be charged with a separate offense, in addition to any charges relating to the mother. As with the partial-birth abortion ban, the bill passed despite major opposition by Democrats. In the House, 73% of Democrats voted against the bill and in the Senate it was also 73%. In the House, 91% of Republicans supported the bill and in the Senate it was 94%.

“All of us pro-lifers contend that abortion is wrong because babies are being killed. Let us not forget that more than 1,000 servicemen have been killed in Iraq. At one time, all of them were babies of proud parents.

“George Bush, as governor of Texas, led the nation for the state with the highest number of people killed by capital punishment.”

[RWC] Here is where Mr. Todorich exposes himself and his agenda. He tries to equate the murder of unborn children with volunteer soldiers who die in defense of their country. He tries to equate the murder of unborn children with the execution of convicted murderers. In general, this is the tactic used by the pro-abortion crowd to claim the pro-life crowd is hypocritical.

“The Republicans have used Roe v. Wade to bolster their political agenda for many years.

“They do not want Roe v. Wade overturned simply because they would like nothing better than to keep the issue alive.”

[RWC] As shown above, the record of President Bush and Republicans show this claim to be a lie.

“Don’t be misled by political propaganda. Bush had his opportunity to overturn Roe v. Wade for the last 46 months and he failed us.”

[RWC] I think the record is clear that President Bush and Republicans in Congress did quite a lot to protect unborn children. If he doesn’t want us to vote for President Bush, whom would Mr. Todorich want us to support? Sens. Kerry and Edwards voted against the Unborn Victims of Violence Act. Sen. Kerry voted against the partial-birth abortion ban and Sen. Edwards didn’t vote at all. Does Mr. Todorich believe Congressional Democrats in general, and Sens. Kerry and Edwards in particular, will push to protect unborn children given their historical strong support for abortion?

As Mr. Todorich states, “Don’t be misled by political propaganda.” Especially the political propaganda spread by folks like Mr. Todorich.