Presbyterians Pro-Life

The Washington Post reports (Jan. 29, 1999) that American women are becoming increasingly conservative and willing to embrace religion in politics. Their conclusion is based on "a new poll from the liberal Center for Gender Equality."

The poll, conducted by Princeton Research Associates for the center, found that 53 percent of female respondents believe abortion should be allowed only in cases of rape, incest or to save a woman's life--or not at all. Results are up from 45 percent in 1996.

Among the poll's other results: 75 percent of women say religion is very important in their lives, up from 69 percent two years ago. And 46 percent of women said politicians should be guided by religious values, up from 32 percent six years ago. The survey compared results to previous polls conducted by Gallup and the Pew Research Center.

The Center for Gender Equality is a women's think tank established in 1995 and run by former Planned Parenthood executive director Faye Wattleton. "Yes," said Wattleton, [the results] were surprising and disturbing for everyone who cares about women's status and liberty in this country. It ought to be a wake-up call."

Kate Michelman, President of the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League (NARAL), noted recently that the public remains ambivalent when it comes to abortion: "It's not a pretty topic...The majority of Americans want to keep abortion legal, but nobody really wants to hear about it," she said.

The last national pro-choice march was seven years ago, and NARAL's membership has declined significantly since the 92 elections. "I sometimes get accused of preaching to the choir," Michelman said, referring to the fact that she mostly speaks to pro-choice audiences. "And I always say, That may be true, but this choir isn't singing.'"

"Whoever would have guessed that the incorrigible deconstructionist Stanley Fish thinks abortion is wrong? And not only does he think it wrong, he also thinks the logic of the pro-choice side is both flawed and flimsy. And all it took was a little prodding from Princeton's Robert George for him to come out.

"George challenged Fish during a debate sponsored by the American Political Science Association over the pro-choice claim to have science on its side. Fish immediately conceded, Professor George is right. And he is right to correct me,' to the astonishment of all present. I should have known better,' Fish said later. Pro-life arguments are now based on scientific evidence and the pro-choice arguments are not. That is a cultural, historical fact.'

"He recognizes the irony of the intellectual role reversal in the abortion debate: Nowadays, it is pro-lifers who make the scientific question of when the beginning of life occurs the key one in the abortion controversy, while pro-choicers want to transform the question into a "metaphysical" or "religious" one by distinguishing between mere biological life and "moral life."