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WHY IS JONAH GOLDBERG ANTI-CHOICE?
I'd been dying to know! Good thing he explained:
1. Anti-choice politicians are more trustworthy because they probably also like cutting taxes.
Part of my reasoning is politically pragmatic. Grover Norquist, the right-wing activist, once told my National Review colleague, David Freddoso, in an interview that anyone who can go to black-tie dinners and face the haranguing of rich donors for his pro-life stance has the backbone to support tax cuts too.
2. Because the government tells us which drugs it thinks we shouldn't put in our bodies, it can also tell women to keep fetuses in their bodies.
Every day, the government restricts what you can do with your body, from the drugs you can take to the surgeries you can subject yourself to. In other words, the line of personal autonomy is often blurry and narrow.
3. If you believe in the right to life for Jewish and black people who are able to live without the assistance of an umbilical cord, you must believe fetuses have a right to life, too!
Once a politician takes a stand that a certain population -- be they fetuses, Jews, blacks or anybody else -- has the right to life, their motive for changing their minds should be a lot better than fear of losing support from NARAL and the New York Times.
4. "Reasonable doubt" keeps us from sentencing people to death in a court of law (well, sometimes). And because Goldberg (who has never been and will never be pregnant) has some doubts as to when life begins, he's decided that no woman can figure it out, either.
In death penalty cases, "reasonable doubt" goes to the accused because unless we're certain, we must not risk an innocent's life. This logic goes out the window when it comes to abortion, unless you are 100% sure that babies only become human beings after the umbilical cord is cut.
I may not be 100% sure when life begins, either. But I am 100% sure that every pregnant woman has a right to make that assessment for herself.
Glad we cleared that up.
--Ann Friedman
COMMENTS (11)
Any ACTUAL conservative would recognize that the death penalty (and criminal justice system in general) analogy points to a pro-choice conclusion, not pro-life. When there is a reasonable doubt, our jurisprudence has a bias towards government non-interference, not "life."
Posted by: OhioBoy | October 16, 2007 10:56 AM
And, when you become Emperor, everyone else will bow to your conclusion.
Posted by: Anonymous | October 16, 2007 11:26 AM
The question of when life begins is easier than it appears. Life began at least a billion years ago, and got passed on since then. Sperm cells and egg cells are alive. Life reorganizes itself and takes new forms, but it began long ago and will go on even after we wipe ourselves out.
So "when does life begin?" has nothing to do with the abortion debate. It's a proxy for the question of when a fetus should gain the rights of a human being, which is not a scientific question.
Posted by: Joe Buck | October 16, 2007 11:52 AM
every so often we are reminded just what a poor thinking machine jonah goldberg is.
Posted by: howard | October 16, 2007 11:56 AM
Thank you, Joe Buck, for saying what I was going to say, only doing a better job of it.
Now: can we retire, forever, the damnably idiotic and misleading "when does life begin?" chestnut?
Posted by: low-tech cyclist | October 16, 2007 12:50 PM
Damn. Thanks for showing me that, Ann.
Posted by: Neil the Ethical Werewolf | October 16, 2007 1:15 PM
"Grover Norquist,....told my National Review colleague, David Freddoso,....that anyone who can go to black-tie dinners and face the haranguing of rich donors for his pro-life stance....."
Yeah, it takes real guts for a Republican politician to ask conservative donors for funds while being anti-choice. What brave people they are!
Posted by: Bob | October 16, 2007 4:21 PM
When does life begin?
That was the subject of a recent inter-faith panel discussion.
The Catholic priest said: "life begins at conception"
The liberal Protestant minister said: "life begins at birth"
The Rabbi said: "when does life begin? oy, such a tough question when does life begin? nu? life begins when the kids move out and you finally can enjoy some peace and quiet"
*
Does Jonah not get the difference between saying "you cannot have surgery X because it's not safe, etc." and "you cannot have any surgery, no matter how safe, that removes something living off your bodily fluids"? Wow ... I thought Jonah was a lightweight ... turns out he's denser than a black hole ;)
Posted by: DAS | October 16, 2007 6:53 PM
Catholics extend protection to sperm, and the Greenpeace, to sperm whales.
"... has the backbone to support tax cuts too."
Wimps want to stay in Iraq, real man want to go to Iran.
Wimps want to cut taxes, real man want to triple gasoline taxes.
Posted by: piotr | October 16, 2007 7:18 PM
I don't know if Goldberg really is opposed to abortion for those reasons, I doubt it. In fact, I doubt that most "pro-lifers" actually oppose abortion so much as they just adopt that stance to fit in better with movement conservatism. Fred Thompson is a good example--pro-choicer for his entire career, moves to the right on abortion once he moves into office. He saw which way the winds were blowing. And hey, why not, because those liberals are baby killers! This is why the legitimate opponents of abortion should be so threatened by a Giuliani nomination--do they really want to send the message that you can be a part of the conservative movement without abortion bona fides?
Of course, if Giuliani won and got re-elected, by 2016 I doubt that the pro-life movement would wield more than nominal power. A dozen years with nothing but pro-choice major party candidates? Think about it. Then again, that wouldn't be very good consolation when my city gets nuked by India.
Posted by: Lev | October 16, 2007 8:17 PM
Would everybody please just ignore Jonah. Stop posting about him - stop linking to him - stop quoting him. Please. For the love of god and all that is holy. Stop quoting Jonah.
Posted by: Anonymous | October 17, 2007 10:45 AM