Nedd Kareiva
The ACLU's love affair with death
By Nedd Kareiva
The recent rulings from the 2nd & 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to strike down "The Partial Birth Abortion Act of 2003" as unconstitutional shows, perhaps more than any other decision in American history, how culturally depraved and uncivilized this nation really is to call such a "procedure" legal. And besides the pro-abortion organizations like NOW, NARAL and the National Abortion Federation, no group shows its true colors on abortion more than the ACLU.
In its January 31st web site press release, the ACLU's main heading goes: ACLU and National Abortion Federation Hail Two Appeals Court Rulings Holding Federal Abortion Ban Unconstitutional (http://www.aclu.org/reproductiverights/abortionbans/24004prs20060131.html ).
To show its love for abortion, the ACLU uses the word "hail." According to Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, "hail" is defined in this sense as "to greet with enthusiastic approval; acclaim."
Frankly speaking, to "hail" or enthusiastically support a procedure that even many abortion backers believe is repugnant and abhorrent is downright chilling. One such person is Frances Kissling, director of the maverick pro-abortion group "Catholics for a Free Choice." While staunchly support a woman's so-called "right to choose," Ms. Kissling has come out, if only modestly, in favor of parental notification for teens, fetal ultrasounds, fetal pain awareness and a ban on partial birth abortion. She even took it upon herself to criticize her friends at Planned Parenthood for coming out with "I had an abortion" T-shirts and "Choice on Earth" cards.
Such statements reflect at least a modicum of respect for the unborn child and the pregnant mom. Not so with the ACLU and their allies.
It's also notable that at the bottom of the ACLU's press release, just as it appears on many of their web pages, their mission statement (if it can called that) says "The ACLU is our nation's guardian of liberty, working daily in courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States."
If the ACLU really wanted to be honest about what their organization really is about, it would insert the word "born" before "every person" or more appropriately "excluding unborn babies" at the end of "United States."
The ACLU, like most of the far left liberal pro-abortion organizations in America, claims they would support legislation that includes a health exception. This has been debunked by both liberal and conservative legal scholars, medical groups and doctors, saying a health exception is never necessary in the case of a partial birth abortion or that a health exception is so broad it could essentially mean anything and render the ban meaningless.
However, if such a ban were enacted by Congress and passed into law, one would have to really wonder if the ACLU would support it, considering they have a no restriction policy on abortion at any time during a woman's pregnancy.
According to the book ACLU vs. America, the ACLU issued a press release in March 2002 at the National Day of Appreciation for Abortion Providers, saying "We must change the climate overall from one where abortion providers are vilified and assaulted to one where they are honored and upheld as the heroes they are."
"Doctors" who brutally and barbarically (and legally) kill an unborn child inches from leaving the birth canal are heroes? Only the abortion industry and the ACLU could make such claims.
We have to remember this ACLU is the same ACLU that essentially ordered the courts of Florida to kill Terri Schiavo last year in the name of privacy for her then husband Michael, saying that Gov. Bush's and the Florida legislature's decision to get involved and have Terri's feeding tube reinserted with treatment was a "dangerous abuse of power."
A dangerous abuse of power to save a disabled woman's life with many unanswered questions surrounding her condition (before her starvation death)? What about the ACLU's mission statement "The ACLU is our nation's guardian of liberty, working daily in courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States"?
Perhaps in the case of Terri and others, we should modify the ACLU's statement by also adding the term "non-disabled" between the words "every person" to make it accurate.
To further demonstrate its love for death, the ACLU filed a brief in favor of Oregon's assisted suicide law (recently upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court), saying "we believe that the individuals eligible for the Death with Dignity Act have a liberty, privacy and dignity right to physician-assisted suicide protected by the 14th amendment."
Funny, no matter how I try, I can't think of any death as dignifying. To me, the closest thing to would be dying in your sleep. Having a doctor prescribe a lethal dose of medicine to end the life of an individual doesn't come across to me as carrying any dignity.
And it's notable once again how the ACLU used the word "hail" again in its press release earlier this month on this ruling (http://www.aclu.org/scotus/2005/23511prs20060117.html).
In its quest for national support of the death culture, the ACLU has taken its win in Oregon and proceeding to descend on California's Democrat controlled legislature to follow Oregon's example. The ACLU supported such legislation in 2005 but it failed to pass. Nevertheless, the bill has been reintroduced in the 2006 session and will be coming up for consideration in March. And the ACLU will be there in full tow, working the legislative aisles and using the words "privacy," "dignity" and "rights" to get its pro-death agenda thru.
In addition to the ACLU's unwavering support of abortion, assisted suicide and euthanasia, its relentless crusades for homosexual rights, practices and marriage add to its pro-death culture. How so, you say?
Homosexual activity is fraught with much disease and pain, many of them exclusively confined to practitioners of such behavior. Of course, most people are aware of HIV and AIDS and the horrific pain associated with them but there are many more diseases than just those. For a list, see this link but be warned, it is a bit explicit http://www.newswithviews.com/Devvy/kidd18.htm.
Yet such does not concern the ACLU. The "right" to practice deadly behavior and the "privacy" that comes with it trumps all else. Even if such activity ends up in death, it was the right of those persons to engage in such behavior. The ACLU is well pleased when such activity occurs. The Lawrence vs. Texas Supreme Court ruling in 2003 is the perfect example of it.
Of course, there is one group of people excluded from the ACLU's love affair with death, that being those on death row. The ACLU has a consistent policy in fighting death penalty proponents which is likely why many people dub them (aptly so) "the American Criminal Liberties Union."
Perhaps a better slogan for the ACLU might be "The ACLU: Where death row convicts are worthy of breath and the unborn and disabled worthy of death"?
I think it's time to sentence the ACLU to death row. And here's how you, my readers, can help. Talk to your family, friends, neighbors and co-workers. See if any of them are among the half million members of the ACLU. Share with them the ACLU's untenable positions. Urge any financial backers to stop funding this anti-American organization. Tell Congress to pass legislation banning taxpayer funds from going to the ACLU when they win 10 Commandments' cases. Write, fax or e-mail letters to the editor of your local paper on the ACLU. When the ACLU comes to your town to speak at a school or public forum, ask those in charge to permit an alternate view to be heard so the ACLU's positions can be exposed.
Many Americans still view the ACLU as a civil liberties organization rather than, as one person recently shared with me, a civil libertine one. This needs to be changed. The unborn and the Terri Schiavos of the world have no civil liberties, according to the ACLU. This is unconscionable.
Currently 5 states — Indiana, Ohio, South Dakota, Tennessee and Georgia — are considering wholesale or near wholesale bans on abortion. This is absolutely fabulous but it needs to double, triple and quadruple to other states. A stern message must be sent to abortion practitioners and their ACLU allies that the days of killing our unborn children are over.
And I say pass the bills. The ACLU will no doubt sue on behalf of the abortion lobby but let them. Let the courts overturn the legislature's laws if they wish but let the people's elected officials stand up and insist these abortion bans stand. There is no better time after 33 years of Roe vs. Wade than to ban abortion, welcome all of God's creatures into the world (including the Terri Schiavos in it) and cherish the mothers who bring these human blessings into the world.
Let's send the ACLU's death agenda to the executioner.
© Nedd Kareiva
The recent rulings from the 2nd & 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to strike down "The Partial Birth Abortion Act of 2003" as unconstitutional shows, perhaps more than any other decision in American history, how culturally depraved and uncivilized this nation really is to call such a "procedure" legal. And besides the pro-abortion organizations like NOW, NARAL and the National Abortion Federation, no group shows its true colors on abortion more than the ACLU.
In its January 31st web site press release, the ACLU's main heading goes: ACLU and National Abortion Federation Hail Two Appeals Court Rulings Holding Federal Abortion Ban Unconstitutional (http://www.aclu.org/
To show its love for abortion, the ACLU uses the word "hail." According to Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, "hail" is defined in this sense as "to greet with enthusiastic approval; acclaim."
Frankly speaking, to "hail" or enthusiastically support a procedure that even many abortion backers believe is repugnant and abhorrent is downright chilling. One such person is Frances Kissling, director of the maverick pro-abortion group "Catholics for a Free Choice." While staunchly support a woman's so-called "right to choose," Ms. Kissling has come out, if only modestly, in favor of parental notification for teens, fetal ultrasounds, fetal pain awareness and a ban on partial birth abortion. She even took it upon herself to criticize her friends at Planned Parenthood for coming out with "I had an abortion" T-shirts and "Choice on Earth" cards.
Such statements reflect at least a modicum of respect for the unborn child and the pregnant mom. Not so with the ACLU and their allies.
It's also notable that at the bottom of the ACLU's press release, just as it appears on many of their web pages, their mission statement (if it can called that) says "The ACLU is our nation's guardian of liberty, working daily in courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States."
If the ACLU really wanted to be honest about what their organization really is about, it would insert the word "born" before "every person" or more appropriately "excluding unborn babies" at the end of "United States."
The ACLU, like most of the far left liberal pro-abortion organizations in America, claims they would support legislation that includes a health exception. This has been debunked by both liberal and conservative legal scholars, medical groups and doctors, saying a health exception is never necessary in the case of a partial birth abortion or that a health exception is so broad it could essentially mean anything and render the ban meaningless.
However, if such a ban were enacted by Congress and passed into law, one would have to really wonder if the ACLU would support it, considering they have a no restriction policy on abortion at any time during a woman's pregnancy.
According to the book ACLU vs. America, the ACLU issued a press release in March 2002 at the National Day of Appreciation for Abortion Providers, saying "We must change the climate overall from one where abortion providers are vilified and assaulted to one where they are honored and upheld as the heroes they are."
"Doctors" who brutally and barbarically (and legally) kill an unborn child inches from leaving the birth canal are heroes? Only the abortion industry and the ACLU could make such claims.
We have to remember this ACLU is the same ACLU that essentially ordered the courts of Florida to kill Terri Schiavo last year in the name of privacy for her then husband Michael, saying that Gov. Bush's and the Florida legislature's decision to get involved and have Terri's feeding tube reinserted with treatment was a "dangerous abuse of power."
A dangerous abuse of power to save a disabled woman's life with many unanswered questions surrounding her condition (before her starvation death)? What about the ACLU's mission statement "The ACLU is our nation's guardian of liberty, working daily in courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States"?
Perhaps in the case of Terri and others, we should modify the ACLU's statement by also adding the term "non-disabled" between the words "every person" to make it accurate.
To further demonstrate its love for death, the ACLU filed a brief in favor of Oregon's assisted suicide law (recently upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court), saying "we believe that the individuals eligible for the Death with Dignity Act have a liberty, privacy and dignity right to physician-assisted suicide protected by the 14th amendment."
Funny, no matter how I try, I can't think of any death as dignifying. To me, the closest thing to would be dying in your sleep. Having a doctor prescribe a lethal dose of medicine to end the life of an individual doesn't come across to me as carrying any dignity.
And it's notable once again how the ACLU used the word "hail" again in its press release earlier this month on this ruling (http://www.aclu.org/scotus/2005/23511prs20060117.html).
In its quest for national support of the death culture, the ACLU has taken its win in Oregon and proceeding to descend on California's Democrat controlled legislature to follow Oregon's example. The ACLU supported such legislation in 2005 but it failed to pass. Nevertheless, the bill has been reintroduced in the 2006 session and will be coming up for consideration in March. And the ACLU will be there in full tow, working the legislative aisles and using the words "privacy," "dignity" and "rights" to get its pro-death agenda thru.
In addition to the ACLU's unwavering support of abortion, assisted suicide and euthanasia, its relentless crusades for homosexual rights, practices and marriage add to its pro-death culture. How so, you say?
Homosexual activity is fraught with much disease and pain, many of them exclusively confined to practitioners of such behavior. Of course, most people are aware of HIV and AIDS and the horrific pain associated with them but there are many more diseases than just those. For a list, see this link but be warned, it is a bit explicit http://www.newswithviews.com/Devvy/kidd18.htm.
Yet such does not concern the ACLU. The "right" to practice deadly behavior and the "privacy" that comes with it trumps all else. Even if such activity ends up in death, it was the right of those persons to engage in such behavior. The ACLU is well pleased when such activity occurs. The Lawrence vs. Texas Supreme Court ruling in 2003 is the perfect example of it.
Of course, there is one group of people excluded from the ACLU's love affair with death, that being those on death row. The ACLU has a consistent policy in fighting death penalty proponents which is likely why many people dub them (aptly so) "the American Criminal Liberties Union."
Perhaps a better slogan for the ACLU might be "The ACLU: Where death row convicts are worthy of breath and the unborn and disabled worthy of death"?
I think it's time to sentence the ACLU to death row. And here's how you, my readers, can help. Talk to your family, friends, neighbors and co-workers. See if any of them are among the half million members of the ACLU. Share with them the ACLU's untenable positions. Urge any financial backers to stop funding this anti-American organization. Tell Congress to pass legislation banning taxpayer funds from going to the ACLU when they win 10 Commandments' cases. Write, fax or e-mail letters to the editor of your local paper on the ACLU. When the ACLU comes to your town to speak at a school or public forum, ask those in charge to permit an alternate view to be heard so the ACLU's positions can be exposed.
Many Americans still view the ACLU as a civil liberties organization rather than, as one person recently shared with me, a civil libertine one. This needs to be changed. The unborn and the Terri Schiavos of the world have no civil liberties, according to the ACLU. This is unconscionable.
Currently 5 states — Indiana, Ohio, South Dakota, Tennessee and Georgia — are considering wholesale or near wholesale bans on abortion. This is absolutely fabulous but it needs to double, triple and quadruple to other states. A stern message must be sent to abortion practitioners and their ACLU allies that the days of killing our unborn children are over.
And I say pass the bills. The ACLU will no doubt sue on behalf of the abortion lobby but let them. Let the courts overturn the legislature's laws if they wish but let the people's elected officials stand up and insist these abortion bans stand. There is no better time after 33 years of Roe vs. Wade than to ban abortion, welcome all of God's creatures into the world (including the Terri Schiavos in it) and cherish the mothers who bring these human blessings into the world.
Let's send the ACLU's death agenda to the executioner.
© Nedd Kareiva
The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
(See RenewAmerica's publishing standards.)
