Mass grave? No, no. We call that common ground.

By Diogenes ( articles ) | Feb 02, 2005

Charlotte Hays asks, Is Hillary becoming ever-so-faintly pro-life? Count me in with the skeptics -- correction -- count me in with those who insist there's nothing to be skeptical about. She's pure pro-abort, red in tooth and claw.

But didn't she claim to respect the consciences of pro-lifers? Yes, she made that claim. She also announced, back at the beginning of the 1996 campaign, that she and the President of the United States were exploring the possibilities of adopting a child. A bright tear of sympathy coursed down Uncle Diogenes' cheek at the thought of the wee bairn sucking his toes on his cot in the Lincoln Bedroom, and I'm sure you were similarly affected. Regrettably, the agencies were unable to make a successful match.

Hillary's "common ground" appeal offers pro-family citizens a choice between defeat (the status quo), and even worse defeat. She believes pro-aborts and pro-lifers can compromise by joining to increase government sponsored access to contraceptive services. "Don't like abortion-on-demand? Then let's do abortion-on-demand plus tax-funded contraception and morning-after pills." It's as if you complain to your boss because he cut your vacation time in half, and he responds with a deal whereby your paycheck is halved as well as your vacation time. What can be fairer than that?

Politically, Hillary's family planning compromise is a shrewd move. She doesn't budge on abortion (except by sniffling before the cameras that it can sometimes be a "tragic" choice), and she'll maneuver pro-lifers into the position of fanatics after we refuse the bait. She has correctly gauged the popular sway of the myth that contraception reduces abortions. She's right in thinking that many folks who are anti-abortion are shaky on contraception, and that virtually everyone who's shaky on abortion has no problem with contraception. Thus, it's hard to see how she stands to lose any votes she hasn't already lost irredeemably. It's a win-win situation for her.

We Catholics, of course, have little to be concerned about. The instant Hillary proposes federal support for contraception, Cardinal Patrick Aloysius O'Boyle, the fire-breathing Archbishop of Washington, will come roaring out of his residence -- bounding over the bodies of dissenting priests he suspended -- and rally bishop, priest, and layman across the nation in furious and unflinching opposition to the measure.

Oh wait.