by Becky Burgwin

OpEdNews.Com

Mr. Santorum, as I watched you standing behind Mr. Bush when he signed the bill outlawing late term abortions, (read 'all abortions') there was a smirk on your face that gave me a chill. It looked like you were thinking, "Take that all you uppity women." You know, many people agree that late term abortions or "partial birth" abortions, as you erroneously and prejudicially call them, should only be available to a woman when there's a serious health issue or if the child is desperately deformed. In fact, here's a quote from Dr. Howard Dean in an interview on WashingtonPost.com on 11/6. "In the four years between 1996 and 2000 there were no late term abortions performed in my state. Late term abortions are very rare and should never be used except to save the life or health of the mother. I just don't think the government ought to be making personal medical decisions for Americans. No respectable physician would ever do a late term abortion except for the most serious reasons. That is why I did not support the President's bill." It's alarming that you allowed no stipulation for the life of the mother. And what about victims of rape? They should not be allowed to have an abortion because, get this; the rapist should not be punished by the death of HIS CHILD. Oh-my-god. It's obvious that you and your president are much more interested in protecting the "unborn" than you are the "born."

Here are just a few examples of that. According to Amnesty International, when George Bush was governor of Texas, he authorized more executions than any other governor in US history. 152 to be exact. THAT'S ONE EVERY 19 DAYS !!!! And, since his duties as governor give him the final word on each execution, when asked, he never once opted for clemency or more appeals. Not one single time.

A retarded woman, who had been housed in a state run facility in Florida, was repeatedly raped while under the care of Jeb Bush and his employees. When her family went before a judge to request that her resulting pregnancy be terminated so she could, mercifully, be spared the ordeal of childbirth, Bush stepped in and declared his intention to force her to carry the fetus to full-term. However, he valiantly offered to make sure the child was well placed while a ward of the state. I don't know about you but it seems to me the mother didn't do so well while she was a ward of Gov. Bush's state.

Another case in point. Many of us have been disturbed by the lack of reporting on civilian casualties in Iraq. I got curious and came across a study done buy Nico Price of the Associated Press. They tabulated the non-military Iraqi deaths for one month…March 20 to April 20. Their assessment: At least 3,240 Iraqi civilians were killed! However, as Mr. Price himself said in an interview with Margaret Warner of Online News.com, "[This number is] based largely on hospital records… The real number is certainly much higher than that, because some hospitals didn't have good documentation, and some of the dead weren't taken to hospitals." Three thousand two hundred and forty deaths in the first month of the war. And no one seems the least bit concerned about this. It's not even discussed.

It's also said that Secretary Rumsfeld insisted that he be apprised of any bombings that threatened to kill over 50 innocent civilians. Apparently he never met a bombing mission he didn't like because he approved them all…30 to be exact, to the tune of 1,500 deaths at a minimum. I don't think he's losing any sleep either.

By the way, I wanted to clear a few things up with you. The Texas sodomy law that the Supreme Court recently declared unconstitutional, applied to sex between (read my lips) CONSENTING ADULTS. Pay attention now. Children are not adults and therefore cannot consent to sex, and animals can't talk, so they can't either. I find it ironic that the Republicans, who have historically been against "big government", want to go into people's bedrooms and see what kind of sex they're having and arrest them if it doesn't meet their parameters.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that at least one of the men looking on with glee at this signing has had sex with a woman other than his wife. Perhaps before they were married? And I'm wondering if he even cared whether the girl was on birth control or not. Oh wait, you're against birth control too…and sex education…and RU486…and (as I'm sure you will be) the new morning after pill. Did you know that most health insurance carriers won't pay for these legal birth control methods? But guess what they will pay for. VIAGRA !! So once again, all you stupid white men, (thank you Michael Moore), put all the responsibility for the accidental pregnancy on the woman. I've got news for you guys; there was a man involved in every single abortion that has ever been performed since the beginning of time. But he walks away clean and free while the woman is forced to decide whether to undergo a terrifying abortion or have the child and, if so, how to raise it even though she's probably too young, or too poor, or in an abusive relationship, or whatever. If you're going to deny women the right to a safe, early abortion performed by a trained physician, then you must pass a law forcing the man who fathered the child to pay child support and guarantee the child a college education, no exceptions…do not pass go…do not collect $200. I'm guessing this would be a boon to your program of abstinence only and the end of abortion as we know it.

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Becky Burgwin rburgwin@aol.com  is retired. She lives with her family in Pittsburgh, PA. She has worked with Howard Dean and is a huge supporter. She is also involved in gay rights issues, women's issues and the environment. This article is copyright Becky Burgwin   published by opednews.com but permission is granted for reprint in print, email, blog, or web media so long as this credit is attached.