Politics on Abortion

Politics on Abortion

Introduction

The issue of abortion has divided Americans as few other moral issues have. Indeed, on the cover of its October 3, 1988, issue, U.S. News & World Report referred to the battle over abortion as “America's New Civil War.” This issue has produced powerful political coalitions with millions of followers, demonstrations in which hundreds of thousands of marchers have taken part, bombings and burnings of scores of clinics, and even assassinations of abortion providers. Politicians' attitudes toward abortion have become the political litmus test of their moral adequacy, and a number of office seekers have been selected or rejected solely because of their positions on this one issue (Segers, 2005).

Politics on Abortion

In 2000, the issue of abortion was articulated more than in any other previous campaign. There were three presidential debates and one vice presidential debate. The candidates were the incumbent Vice President Al Gore, and G.W. Bush, son of the former President George Bush. In this October 3, 2000 debate, in Boston, the first question about abortion referred to the FDA's (Food and Drug Administration) approval of RU-486, the abortion pill, not Roe v. Wade. Bush answered that he was disappointed in the ruling, and that the pill would cause more people to have abortions. He introduced a new phrase, “a culture of life,” and stated that every unborn child needed to be protected by law (Solinger, 2008).

A number of issues emerged from the original question: the FDA pronouncement about RU-486 being safe, Bush's intention to ask the FDA appointee to review the decision, criteria for appointments of Supreme Court judges, partial birth abortion, and reducing the number of abortions. These very separate issues became entangled during this first debate. Bush emphasized that by banning “partial birth abortions,” the total number of abortions would be reduced. This did not take into account how very rare and uncommon that type of abortion was (McDonagh, 2006). He talked about “partial birth abortion” and banning that procedure. He avoided answering the question regarding RU-486, saying that he had not looked into it (Luker, 2004).

Joseph Lieberman answered “No,” immediately. He said that he would not support legislation to override the FDA's decision that took 12 years to develop. He stated that the number of abortions performed presently were actually fewer than in prior years and used the term “late term abortion” as the procedure that he would prohibit except in cases where the life or health of the mother was threatened. He said that it would be unacceptable to support a bill that would prohibit an abortion at any stage of pregnancy, regardless of the effect on the health or life of the woman. The Bush-Cheney ticket won the election (Graber, 2006).

Continuing Controversy

Comparatively, abortion laws vary widely from country to country. Even in countries that strictly criminalize abortions, they frequently occur. However, the criminal nature of the procedure often makes it very lucrative for providers and dangerous for customers. Families that can afford to travel to a country where ...